July 26, 2003	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1424

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RIYADH, July 25: Saudi Arabia has condemned the US Congressional Committee report, unveiled on Thursday, and which in some ways implicates the kingdom in the events of the 9/11. Twenty-eight of the report’s pages have not been made public.

In what could be described as the first official Saudi reaction to the report, the Saudi ambassador in the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, has said the report criticizes Saudi Arabia with “blank pieces of paper”.

In a statement released on Friday by the Saudi Press Agency, he also reaffirmed his country’s cooperation with the United States on anti-terrorism efforts.

The ambassador says: “In a 900-page report, the 28 blanked-out pages are being used by some to malign our country and our people.”

“Rumours, innuendoes, and untruths have become, when it comes to the kingdom, the order of the day.”

Prince Bandar reiterated that Saudi Arabia was one of Washington’s “most active partners” in the world in the ongoing war against terrorism, and pointed to the ongoing anti-terror operations and legislation in Saudi Arabia as well as recent statements from senior US officials, including President George W. Bush, to make his point.

The ambassador said that pages were left blank in the long-awaited report on US intelligence because “the information contained in it could not be substantiated.”

“Saudi Arabia has nothing to hide. We can deal with questions in public, but we cannot respond to blank pages,” he said.