A Saudi man detained in Morocco over suspected links with the al-Qaeda network has admitted meeting the network's leader Osama bin Laden and undergoing military training in Afghanistan, a newspaper reported Sunday.
However, Zuhair Helal al-Tabaiti, one of three Saudis arrested in Morocco last month, denied having been asked to carry out any military attacks, saying he was only asked to gather intelligence, according to Al-Hayat.
Speaking from his jail in Casablanca through his lawyer, Tabaiti said he met in Afghanistan with Mulla Ahmad Belal, also known as Abdulraheem al-Nasheri, an al-Qaeda activist, who asked him to gather information about the movements of the NATO fleet in Gibraltar.
Tabaiti also admitted that he received 2,000 dollars from Belal to "cover expenses of his movements in Morocco" and then to marry with a second Moroccan wife after his first wife, also Moroccan, and their seven-month-old baby were killed in a US bombing in Afghanistan.
The Saudi kingdom sent a team of investigators to take part in the interrogation of the cell. Tabaiti said he was questioned about the al-Qaeda organization and Osama bin Laden's personality by US, Jordanian and Egyptian interrogators.
He said that he underwent military training in two bases in Kabul and Kandahar for six months, but the results were "not satisfactory" for his superiors, and that he failed religious education. Tabaiti was not given any military assignment because he lacked the "necessary skills." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
