WEDGE ISSUES :

Saudis Cry Foul over U.S. Sept. 11 Lawsuit (Fahd al-Frayyan, August 18, 2002, Reuters)

Several Saudi banks and Islamic charities named in a lawsuit by families of Sept. 11 victims vehemently denied Sunday any role in funding terrorism and blasted the case as an attempt to extort Saudi wealth abroad.

The suit has sparked rare calls by commentators and newspapers in the kingdom to review traditionally strong Saudi-U.S. ties. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment officially.

Offended that the lawsuit named members of the royal family, including Defense Minister Prince Sultan -- the third highest official in the kingdom -- many Saudis accused Washington of putting pressure on the Gulf Arab state to make it conform with U.S. policies on Iraq and the Middle East.

Once you start digging around in these guys' files you never know what you're going to find and then things may get really ugly. It could be that this lawsuit will be the determining factor in separating U.S. and Saudi interests. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 18, 2002 11:29 AM