International

More Saudi perfidy

I’m starting to wonder if there’s anything our “moderate Arab friends” the Saudis could do which would make the Bush administration truly angry with them.

Today’s New York Times reported:

Nearly a year ago, Khalid Mishaal, a senior leader of Hamas, the militant Palestinian organization, attended a charitable fund-raising conference here where he talked at length with Crown Prince Abdullah, the de facto Saudi ruler.

According to a summary of the meeting written by a Hamas official, Mr. Mishaal and other Hamas representatives thanked their Saudi hosts for continuing “to send aid to the people through the civilian and popular channels, despite all the American pressures exerted on them.”

“This is indeed a brave posture deserving appreciation,” the Hamas officials said, the document said.

So even after Hamas murdered scores of Israeli men, women and children, the leader of Saudi Arabia was shmoozing with one of their leading figures.

The Times also reported that at least 50 percent of Hamas’s $10 million annual operating budget comes from Saudi sources.

The Saudis, of course, deny it, but they deny a lot of things.

This latest revelation comes less than two months after the White House censored “classified” material from a Congressional report about the possible connection of Saudi officials to the 9/11 hijackers.

The current issue of The New Republic features a full-page ad purchased by the Saudi embassy in Washington, claiming Riyadh has intensified its fight against terrorists since 9/11 and declaring, “Every government had had to take a stand in the fight against evil.” The ad also quotes George W. Bush saying last July, “America and Saudi Arabia face a common terrorist threat, and we appreciate the strong, continuing efforts of the Saudi government in fighting that threat.”

Wake up, George.