July 30, 2003	Wednesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1424

WASHINGTON, July 29: US President George Bush rejected a request by the Saudi government on Tuesday to declassify sections of a Sept 11, 2001, report dealing with Saudi Arabia, saying it could compromise intelligence sources and methods.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan made the announcement before a meeting between Mr Bush and the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al Faisal.

The Saudis are upset that the Sept 11 congressional report issued last week alleges possible links between individuals in the Saudi government and some of the hijackers.

They would like the report declassified so they can respond.

“We cannot agree to that request at this time because of ongoing investigations and our national security interests,” said Mr McClellan.

He said the 28 crucial pages were kept classified based on the recommendation of senior intelligence and law enforcement officials because the section contains information about ongoing investigations, counter-terrorism operations and sensitive sources and methods.

“And publishing that material at this time would compromise our national security and possibly interfere with investigations of the events of September 11,” McClellan said.

He said the United States had received great cooperation from Saudi Arabia in the investigation of the hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington and has been fighting hard to contain Al Qaeda.

But he said there was an active, sensitive investigation under way involving individuals from many countries, and “we cannot and will not compromise our ability to bring those involved to justice”. —Reuters