The document said in the three years before Yousef was charged in the World Trade Center bombing, he lived in a Pakistan guest house paid for by Bin Laden. The Saudi militants who killed five Americans in November in a Riyadh bombing said in their confessions that they had been influenced by Bin Laden's thinking. Former and current U.S. officials were quoted by The New York Times on Wednesday as saying they believe businessmen in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates fed funds to Ramzi Ahmed Yousef. Yousef is accused of being the mastermind behind the World Trade Center bombing in New York in 1993 and a plot to blow up 11 U.S. jets. Philip Wilcox, head of the State Department's counter-terrorism office, told Congress recently that the Palestinian fundamentalist groups Hamas and Islamic Holy War receive significant support from individuals in the Gulf as well as in the United States.
Some contributors believe that they are underwriting legitimate charitable organizations.
Others give money to radical groups knowingly, through secret channels, Wilcox said. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you.