‘Pak, Saudi aided 9/11 plot’

‘‘That does appear to have been the arrangement,’’ said one senior member of the commission staff.

The officials said that by not cracking down on Laden, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia undermined efforts to combat terrorism worldwide, giving the Saudi exile the haven he needed to train thousands of soldiers. And they have concluded that the governments’ ongoing funding of his Taliban protectors enabled Laden to withstand international pressure and expand his operation into a global network that could carry out the attacks.

Saudi Arabia provided funds and equipment to the Taliban and probably directly to Laden and didn’t interfere with Al Qaeda’s efforts to raise money, recruit and train operatives and establish cells through the kingdom, commission and US officials said.

Pakistan provided even more direct assistance, its military and intelligence agencies often coordinating efforts with the Taliban and Al Qaeda, they said. Such efforts allowed Al Qaeda’s network of cells to burrow deep into the social and religious fabric of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, enabling the organisation to survive the US-led demolition of its headquarters in Afghanistan in 2001, to regroup and launch new attacks.

Only after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia launched comprehensive efforts to take out their domestic Al Qaeda cells — as late as last year, in the case of Saudi Arabia — did the two nations became victims of attacks. And officials in both countries acknowledge that Al Qaeda’s fundraising, recruiting and training structure is now so firmly rooted that it will be difficult to eliminate.

For years, there have been unsubstantiated allegations that the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia intentionally ignored Laden’s efforts in their countries or even cut deals with him, either out of sympathy with his efforts or to protect themselves from attack. That claim is made in a lawsuit by the families of 9/11 victims against Saudi Arabia. Both governments have strenuously denied this, and did so again on Saturday. —(LAT-WP)