9/11 '20th hijacker' Moussaoui details alleged Saudi royal backing of al Qaeda

Al Qaeda&#039;s Zacarias Moussaoui fingers the Saudi royals

(Image credit: Sherburne County Sheriffs Office/Getty Images)

published 4 February 2015

In more than 100 pages of testimony submitted to a federal court on Monday, al Qaeda's Zacarias Moussaoui said that high-ranking Saudi officials had given financial support to Osama bin Laden's terrorist group in the late 1990s. The prominent Saudi alleged supporters included longtime ambassador to Washington Prince Bandar Bin Sultan and intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal. Moussaoui also said that he discussed plans to shoot down Air Force One with an official in the Islamic Affairs Department of Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington.

Moussaoui — the "20th hijacker," arrested just weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — volunteered to testify in the trial of 9/11 family members who are suing the Saudi government. "Moussaoui is a deranged criminal whose own lawyers presented evidence that he was mentally incompetent," the Saudi embassy said in a statement Monday night. "His words have no credibility." You can read sections of Moussaoui's testimony at The New York Times.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.