Person

Turki Al-Faisal

Former head of Saudi intelligence.

4 links, 1 backed by primary records. 3 more in open data

How each side tells it

Connections 4

Covert aid to the Afghan resistance described Saudi aid as “financial, military and moral support” According to Turki Al-Faisal Scholarship & press 1
Foreign backing of the Taliban the CIA director asked the Saudis for help against bin Laden; Turki was the emissary to the Taliban According to National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States Primary record 2
Foreign backing of the Taliban HRW alleges, citing a British newspaper, that he pledged money in June 1998 to buy off commanders; he describes the trip as an errand about bin Laden According to Human Rights Watch Scholarship & press 3
Foreign backing of the Taliban says he went to Kandahar in June 1998 to ask Mullah Omar to hand bin Laden to Saudi Arabia According to Turki Al-Faisal Scholarship & press 1

Proof 3 sources

Kingdom has big role to play in Afghanistan (interview with Prince Turki Al-Faisal), Arab News, 4 Nov 2001. Scholarship & press
We provided them with financial, military and moral support during their struggle against the Soviets.
King Fahd and Crown Prince Abdullah sent me to meet Mulla Omar to persuade him to hand Bin Laden over to the Kingdom.
I asked Mulla Omar to hand him over and he agreed.
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, 9-11-commission, 22 Jul 2004. Primary record
Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, who had taken charge from the ailing King Fahd, promised Tenet an all-out secret effort to persuade the Taliban to expel Bin Ladin so that he could be sent to the United States or to another country for trial.
Apparently employing a mixture of possible incentives and threats, Turki received a commitment that Bin Ladin would be expelled, but Mullah Omar did not make good on this promise.
Afghanistan: Crisis of Impunity: The Role of Pakistan, Russia, and Iran in Fueling the Civil War, Human Rights Watch, Jul 2001. Scholarship & press
Turki allegedly pledged the funds necessary to buy off individual United Front commanders during the upcoming fighting.

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