Saudi govt sees bin Laden link to terrorists' attack
Saudi govt sees bin Laden link to terrorists' attack
Agencies, Dubai/Washington
United States ally Saudi Arabia said for the first time on Tuesday there was clear evidence linking Saudi-born Osama bin Laden to last month's attacks on the United States and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
But Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in an interview with Time magazine, also warned Washington the Sept. 11 attacks were meant to provoke "unmeasured responses" that could spark a conflict with more casualties and inflame passions.
Afghan-based bin Laden has praised the attacks as punishment for U.S. support of Israel, the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia and United Nations sanctions on Iraq, but has denied involvement.
"There is clear evidence that he is connected with this, yes," Prince Saud said in remarks published on Time's website on Tuesday. "This is from the ongoing exchange of information that we have had with (American authorities).
"It is necessary to pursue with vigor and tenacity the criminals who created this tragedy," he said. "In this regard, the U.S. has the support of the international community. The people must be identified, pursued, brought to justice, and all of the world is willing to join in this struggle."
Saudi Arabia deprived bin Laden of citizenship in 1994 for his activities against the royal family.
Prince Saud's comments were the first public Saudi reaction to evidence shown last week by U.S. embassies to officials in Riyadh about the attacks that killed about 5,600 people.
U.S President George W. Bush has named bin Laden as top suspect for the Sept. 11 assaults and on Sunday launched a military assault on targets in Afghanistan, with British help.
The Saudi minister, speaking shortly before the start of the U.S.-British air strikes, praised what he called America's measured response to the crisis up to that point.
"It was a tragedy of such immense proportions that a human response of spontaneous reaction might have been expected, as unwise as it would be," he said.
"But fortunately, and it is to the great credit to the American administration and the American people, the response has been measured. We believe that this is the right response.
Pentagon officials, meanwhile, are reviewing the results of bombing over Afghanistan, now into a third day, at the same time a jittery American public confronts the fear of fresh strikes by terrorists .
"The best defense against terror is a global offensive against terror whenever it might be found," Bush declared on Monday, juggling his roles as commander in chief and comforter in chief to a nervous nation.
"On all efforts, on all fronts, we're going to be ongoing and relentless as we tighten the net of justice," the president said.
Separately, as National Guard troops in New York prepared to take their posts at bridges, tunnels, and train hubs across the city, officials said New Yorkers -- and all Americans -- should get used to living in an atmosphere of heightened security.
At the same time, people should continue their routines, said Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik.
"You can't hide in a cage; you have got to get back to business and a normal way of living," he said on Monday. "People should feel safer now, probably more than at any time in the past because of the people we have out there."
New York Gov. George Pataki said the National Guard would join Port Authority police in patrolling the city's train hubs starting on Tuesday. He said the move, similar to one already taken at area airports, was not prompted by any specific incidents.
On Monday, guardsmen patrolled the Brooklyn Bridge, including its pedestrian walkways. Armed officers were posted outside city, state and federal buildings.
Also on Tuesday, Stuyvesant High School, located near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, was expected to reopen. The day of the attacks, the school was turned into a triage center to take the flow of victims that never turned up.