SECRET
PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN NAYIF CALLS PRINCE BANDAR'S 9/11 COMMENTS "IRRESPONSIBLE"
US diplomatic cable 07RIYADH2321 · Saudi Arabia Riyadh · 2007-11-20 16:17 · Read at WikiLeaks PlusD »
| Reference ID | 07RIYADH2321 |
|---|---|
| Created | 2007 November 20, 16:17 (Tuesday) |
| Origin | Saudi Arabia Riyadh |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Classification | SECRET |
| To | Central Intelligence Agency; Defense Intelligence Agency; Department of Homeland Security; National Security Council; Saudi Arabia Jeddah; Secretary of State; The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf; United Kingdom London; United States Central Command |
| TAGS | PGOV - Political Affairs--Government; Internal Governmental Affairs PINR - Political Affairs--Intelligence PREL - Political Affairs--External Political Relations PTER - Political Affairs--Terrorists and Terrorism SA - Saudi Arabia |
| Character count | 1,528 |
Cable text
SECRET
S E C R E T RIYADH 002321
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT PASS FOR NEA/ARP AND NEA/FO
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/20/2017
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PGOV, PINR, SA
SUBJECT: PRINCE MOHAMMED BIN NAYIF CALLS PRINCE BANDAR'S
9/11 COMMENTS "IRRESPONSIBLE"
REF: RIYADH 02224
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES MICHAEL GFOELLER FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) A
ND (D)
1. (S) On the evening of November 19, Prince Mohammed Bin
Nayif (MbN), the Assistant Minister of Interior for Security
Affairs, called the Charge d'Affaires to personally apologize
for Prince Bandar's comments, in which he said that the USG
could have prevented 9/11 if it had consulted with the Saudi
authorities in a "credible way." MbN emphatically told the
Charge that the Saudi Arabian Government (SAG) had possessed
no information that might have prevented 9/11. He
characterized Prince Bandar's statements as "irresponsible"
and he promised the Charge that an incident like this would
never happen again. He ended the brief call by saying, "You
are our friends and we would never do anything to hurt our
strong relationship."
2. (S) COMMENT: MbN's comments are similar to what Doctor
Prince Turki Saud al-Kabeer, the Director of International
Organizations and Political Affairs at the MFA, told the DCM
on November 6 (reftel). It is apparent that Prince Bandar's
comments have taken the SAG by surprise. MbN's call was
probably also intended as a signal to the USG that strong
counter terrorism cooperation will continue. END COMMENT.
GFOELLER
Reproduced as published in WikiLeaks’ PlusD library.