The Saudis’ Lip Service

Saudi Arabia isn’t carrying its weight in the war on terrorism. Indeed, the oil-rich ally should be embarrassed by continuing revelations about its repeated failures to cooperate fully with the United States.

In December, the nation’s ambassador to the U.S. and his wife were in the spotlight for having contributed, probably inadvertently, charitable funds to Saudis in this country who assisted two of the Sept. 11 attackers. Now the Washington Post has reported that the Saudi Embassy helped a witness under subpoena flee the U.S. -- another indication that Riyadh is trying to cover up terrorist links.

On Nov. 10, the Saudi Embassy helped Maha Hafeez Marri and her children return to Saudi Arabia, the Post reported. Her passport had been confiscated by the FBI. Her husband, Ali Saleh Kahlah Marri, a citizen of Qatar who remains in U.S. custody, was indicted in January on charges of lying to the FBI about telephone conversations with a suspected Al Qaeda operative, Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi. Investigators believe Hawsawi controlled a bank account for the Sept. 11 hijackers.

When the FBI searched Marri’s apartment, court documents show, they discovered, among other things, computer audio files of Osama bin Laden, information on purchasing hazardous chemicals and a bookmarked almanac of American railroads and dams.

Marri’s wife was supposed to testify before a grand jury in New York about her husband’s possible ties to Al Qaeda. Now the grand jury will never have the chance to find out what she knows.

The Saudi Embassy has dismissed the importance of her testimony and offered American investigators the opportunity to interview her in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. This is unacceptable and an affront to the geopolitically important friendship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. In spiriting Maha Marri out of the country, Saudi officials raise the specter that she truly does have something to hide.

Since Sept. 11, the Saudi government has portrayed radical Muslim fundamentalism as a common foe and indignantly rejected charges that it has been cooperating less than fully with the American government -- perhaps while hoping that the tragic day fades from memory fast. But for years, the Saudis have tried to buy off terrorists through so-called charitable donations and turned a blind eye to their activities at home and abroad.

Instead of flouting American justice, the Saudis should return Marri to the U.S. so she can testify in New York about crimes that have yet to be fully solved and will not soon be forgotten, wishful thinking aside.