Opinion ID: 1443357
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Four Princes [4]

Text: The Four Princes are: His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (Prince Salman), His Royal Highness Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (Prince Sultan), His Royal Highness Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (Prince Naif), and His Royal Highness Prince Turki alFaisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (Prince Turki). Broadly stated, it is alleged that they caused money to be given to the Muslim charities (from the Kingdom as well as their own accounts), with the knowledge that the charities would transfer the funds to al Qaeda. Princes Naif, Sultan and Turki sit on the Kingdom's Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, which monitors and approves Islamic charitable giving both within and outside the Kingdom. (The Kingdom generally requires Saudis to obtain government approval for private charitable giving abroad.) Prince Salman is President of the SHC and Governor of Riyadh Province. He intended that the SHC would be a conduit for funding and supporting the Bosnian Islamic movement, including al Qaeda. Prince Salman was put on notice of SHC's connection with al Qaeda by a letter he received in 2000 from a group called the Mothers of Srebrenica complaining that the SHC's money was not being used for humanitarian aid in Bosnia. Prince Sultan is Chairman of the Supreme Council and First Deputy President of the Council of Ministers. He has been designated as the successor to King Abdullah. Sultan received at least three warnings that the Muslim charities were al Qaeda fronts. [5] Prince Sultan also made personal contributions to the charities. According to a 1996 report in a Muslim newspaper, he donated one million Saudi dollars to one of the charities pursuant to an annual pledge. Sultan also made a sizable contribution to the Saudi Joint Relief Committee of Kosovar Refugees (SJRC), which oversees several other Muslim charities. Prince Naif is Saudi Minister of the Interior, in which capacity he monitors and controls the charities that operate in Saudi Arabia. At one time, Naif served as the General Supervisor of the SJRC. Prince Naif was present with Prince Sultan when he was warned that Saudi charities serve as fronts for terrorist groups. Naif has personally contributed more than two million Saudi dollars to the SJRC, and has helped the SJRC raise money from other wealthy Saudis. Prince Turki was the director of the Kingdom's Department of General Intelligence (DGI) until August 2001. In the 1980s, Turki met Osama bin Laden at the Saudi embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan; he later met with bin Laden at least five times in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1998, Turki agreed with the Taliban and al Qaeda that the Kingdom would not attempt to extradite bin Laden or his followers, in return for bin Laden's agreement not to target the Kingdom or its royal family. During Turki's tenure, there existed near identity between DGI and the Taliban. The Federal Plaintiffs allege in addition that Turki donated to the charities in his personal capacity.