The Saudi government has strongly denied a connection. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who was the Saudi ambassador to the United States at the time of the attacks, said in 2003: “There is something wrong with the basic logic of those who spread these spurious charges. Al Qaeda is a cult that is seeking to destroy Saudi Arabia as well as the United States. By what logic would we support a cult that is trying to kill us?”

But Bandar called on President Bush two days after the attacks to ask that many Saudi citizens be airlifted out of the U.S. in the days after 9/11. Bush, whose family has a strong relationship with Bandar, complied with the request even though there was no other air traffic allowed in the country at the time.

Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has been accused of supporting al-Qaeda in a suit filed by Lloyd’s of London in an effort to recoup some of its losses paid to 9/11 victims. Salman, although reportedly in ill health, is next in line to the Saudi throne