Members of the Saudi royal family are “up to their eyeballs” in supporting terrorism, a veteran Republican lawmaker charged Tuesday, as members of Congress raised sharp questions of the state of U.S.-Saudi relations and Riyadh’s contribution to the fight against al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, known for his sometimes sweeping statements on foreign policy, said during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that U.S. officials must stop “intentionally ignoring” Riyadh’s activities.
“We’re not going to correct the situation — it won’t get better — unless we’re willing to step up and basically let the American people know who’s the bad guy and who’s the good guy in the age of terrorism,” Mr. Rohrabacher said. “I think it’s clear to all of us who have been active in Washington over the years, that the Saudis and the Saudi royal family have been right up to their eyeballs in terrorist activity and supporting the terrorist activity of radical Islamic forces in the Middle East.”
Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman accused Saudi officials of funding Islamic extremists’ movements across the Muslim world while claiming to be fighting terrorism.
“It is time for Saudi Arabia to come clean,” Mr. Sherman said. “They can’t say they don’t support terrorism; all they do is fund hundreds of millions of dollars a year for those who plant the seeds of terrorism around the world.”
Saudi officials have long and vehemently denied accusations that they support such terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, even distributing a fact sheet to reporters ahead of Tuesday’s hearing detailing their record fighting terror.
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But bilateral tensions have been on the rise recently as U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised new questions about the extent to which Saudi officials may have played a role in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, where 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia.
The latest scrutiny stems from speculation about the contents of a 28-page secret chapter from the official inquiry into foreign support the hijackers received during the months leading up to the attacks.
Former Sen. Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat who co-chaired the congressional inquiry, has said the classified pages point to “Saudi complicity,” and relatives of 9/11 victims have urged the Obama administration to declassify the pages.
Over the opposition of President Obama, the Senate last week passed legislation that would allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the Saudi government.
Rep. Ted Poe, the Texas Republican who chairs the House foreign affairs subcommittee overseeing terrorism issues, said Tuesday that U.S. “counterterrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia has increased.”
Mr. Poe noted that Riyadh — along with the U.S. and Italy — is co-chairing the international group designed to counter the Islamic State’s financial operations.
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“According to the Department of Treasury, [Saudi Arabia] is making improvements in enforcing stringent banking rules that help stem the flow of money to terrorist groups,” he said.
But Mr. Poe acknowledged that problems remain.
“I think we must separate the individuals that live in Saudi Arabia and what they do to [financially support terrorism], and the government of Saudi Arabia,” he said. “While the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has adopted strict laws prohibiting terrorism finance, there continue to be press reports about Saudi charities and individual donors funding ISIS, al Qaeda and foreign fighters.”
• Guy Taylor can be reached at gtaylor@washingtontimes.com.
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