Saudi bid to declassify US terror report fail

THE White House, facing a crucial meeting with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, refused to declassify part of an intelligence report on possible links between individuals in the Saudi government and some of the September 11 hijackers.

Declassifying 28 pages of material, as has been requested by the Saudi government and some members of Congress, would “compromise our national security and possibly interfere with the investigation of the events of September 11,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

The decision came against a background of controversy over whether officials in Saudi Arabia had connections with the terrorists. Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, who flew to the US on Monday, was to meet later with Bush, McClellan said.