Fahrenheit 9\11 Page #4

at the highest levels of our government

to fly to pick up

Osama bin Laden's family members

and others from Saudi Arabia;

transport them out of this country.

It turns out that the White House approved

planes to pick up the bin Ladens

and numerous other Saudis.

At least six private jets

and nearly two dozen commercial plans

carried the Saudis and the bin Ladens

out of the U.S.

after September 13th.

In all, 142 Saudis, including 24 members

of the bin Laden family,

were allowed to leave the country.

Osama has always been portrayed as the bad apple,

the black sheep of the family

and that they cut off all relationship

with him around 1994.

In fact things are much more

complicated than that.

You mean Osama has had contact

with other family members?

That's right.

In the summer of 2001

just before 9/11 one of Osama's sons

got married in Afghanistan

and several family members

showed up at the wedding.

Bin Ladens?

That's right.

They have not cut off completely;

that's really an exaggeration.

We now welcome to Larry King Live,

it's good to see him again,

Prince Bandar,

the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

to the United States.

We have about twenty-four members

of bin Laden's family and uh...

Here?

In America.

Students and his majesty felt

it was not fair for those innocent people

to be subjected to any harm.

On the other hand,

we understood had the high emotions.

So in cooperation with the FBI, we got them out.

This is retired FBI agent Jack Cloonan.

Before 9/11 he was a senior agent

on the joint FBI-CIA al Qaeda task force.

I as an investigator would not want

these people to have left...

I think in the case of the Bin Laden family

I think it would have been prudent,

hand the subpoenas out,

have 'em come in, get on the record.

You know, get on the record.

That's the proper procedure.

Yeah...

How many people were pulled off of the airlines

after that coming into the country who were what,

that were from the Middle East

or they fit a very general picture.

We held hundreds of,...

We held hundreds and I...

...weeks and months at a time.

Did the authorities do anything

when the bin Ladens tried to leave the country?

No, they were identified at the airport,

they looked at their passports,

and they were identified.

But that's what would happen to you or I if we were...

Exactly. Exactly.

"So a little interview,

Nothing

I don't know about you, but

usually when the police

can't find a murderer

don't they usually want to

talk to the family members

to find out where they think he might be?

You have no idea

where your husband might be?

Well if you hear anything let us know, will ya?

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