September 8, 2003	Monday	Rajab 10, 1424

NEW YORK, Sept 7: Saudi Arabia has denied US officials access to several suspects in their custody, including a Saudi man alleged to have knowledge of a plot to spread poison gas in the New York City subway, Time magazine reported.

“Some critics of Saudi Arabia are suggesting that the US invaded the wrong country and seized the wrong oil wells in the spring,” according to a special report marking the two-year anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, which was due to hit newsstands on Monday.

US officials want to talk to the Saudi suspect to see how far the plot advanced and whether he had associates in the United States, the magazine reported. The Saudis have provided no detailed information about him, according to Time.

“From (Vice President Dick) Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and, significantly, his father, President George W. Bush is hearing a singular line from his most important foreign policy advisers: that he must engage with the Saudis, work with them to bring about change and not alienate them,” the magazine says.

“Indeed, when President Bush spoke to (Crown Prince) Abdullah for 20 minutes by phone last week, say US and Saudi sources, he went out of his way to compliment the Prince on Saudi Arabia’s efforts to combat terrorism.” —AFP