W. House rejects Saudi request on September 11 report

The White House yesterday rejected a Saudi request to declassify portions of a report on the September 11, 2001, attacks dealing with Saudi Arabia, saying it could compromise intelligence sources and methods.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan made the announcement ahead of an afternoon meeting between President George W. Bush and the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, in which the Saudi official was to press for release of the classified portions of the congressional report.

The Saudis are upset the report issued last week raises suspicions over possible links between individuals in the Saudi government and some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudis.

The Saudi government would like the report declassified so they can respond. Members of the US Congress, including Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, have also asked that the section be released.

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

He said the 28 crucial pages, 27 of which were blank in the public version of the report, were kept classified based on the recommendation of senior intelligence and law enforcement officials. The section contains information about ongoing investigations, counter-terrorism operations and sensitive sources and methods, he said.

"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.

Portions of the classified section could be released at some point in the future if US security interests would not be damaged, he said.