An accused al-Qaeda bomb maker told the US military that he believed a member of the Saudi royal family helped to recruit him to carry out attacks on the US, according to a report published Saturday.
The Associated Press reported that the Guantanamo Bay prisoner, Ghassan Abdallah al-Sharbi, told military officers a Saudi religious figure called an unidentified individual “your highness” during a telephone call.
The religious figure then called on Al-Sharbi to return to the US to take part in an attack that would require him to learn how to fly a plane.
It was early 2001, and Al-Sharbi, who went to college in Arizona, had only recently returned from the US, where he had taken some flight school courses in Phoenix with two men who would become hijackers in the 9/11 attacks
The AP cited a newly released transcript in its report. A formal Congressional inquiry into the September 11 attacks found no direct connection to the Saudi royal family.
Al-Sharbi described the conversation in June to the Periodic Review Board, which assesses whether Guantanamo prisoners can be released. The Pentagon on Thursday posted a transcript of his claims with parts blacked out.
The statement is convoluted and lacks important details, such as whether the ‘religious figure’ might be close to any Saudi officials.