The Saudis continue their double game. From Middle East Newsline:
HERZLIYA, Israel [MENL] — Saudi Arabia, despite a vigorous military campaign against Islamic insurgents, was said to have continued financing the Al Qaida-inspired war against the West.
Several leading analysts and former officials echoed this assertion during a conference last week by the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel. The analysts said Saudi Arabia has maintained funding to ensure the spread of Al Qaida-inspired ideology abroad even as authorities fight the movement within the kingdom.
“The Saudis have been jolted by the Al Qaida threat,” Dore Gold, a senior Israeli government consultant and president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said. “At the same time, they are ideologically committed to supporting jihad externally.”
Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, presented documents that told of Saudi support to the Palestinian movement, Hamas, as late as May 2003. The payment was made through the kingdom-sponsored charity, International Islamic Relief Organization.