As reported earlier on this site by SiliconValleyBritThe Guardianhas reported that Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia has been cited in a UK court proceeding:
Saudi Arabia's rulers threatened to make it easier for terrorists to attack London unless corruption investigations into their arms deals were halted, according to court documents revealed yesterday. . . . Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council, and son of the crown prince, was alleged in court to be the man behind the threats to hold back information about suicide bombers and terrorists. He faces accusations that he himself took more than £1bn in secret payments from the arms company BAE.
He [Bandar] was accused in yesterday's high court hearings of flying to London in December 2006 and uttering threats which made the prime minister, Tony Blair, force an end to the Serious Fraud Office investigation into bribery allegations involving Bandar and his family. . . . Lord Justice Moses, hearing the civil case with Mr Justice Sullivan, said the government appeared to have "rolled over" after the threats. He said one possible view was that it was "just as if a gun had been held to the head" of the government.
Note this is the same Prince Bandar who, according the the BBC
has been particularly close to the Bush dynasty and their allies such as Vice President Dick Cheney, who served as defence secretary under President George HW Bush. The current president is even said to have earned the nickname Bandar Bush, as an honorary member of the family.
And as well, according the Bob Woodward, our charming Prince Bandar was shown essential details of the plans for the Iraq War before then Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Not to worry, though, because, according to Democracy Now
The White House and a top Saudi official are denying allegations that before the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration made a secret deal with Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan involving oil price fixing ahead of the November presidential elections.
Now, you will find some of the more lurid material links the Prince to 9/11, and especially to the dodgy flights of Saudi nationals from our shores in the hours and days after the attacks. I'm not going there.
It's enough right now to consider how lucky we are in the Western democracies to have so respected a figure as liaison between our top guys and the oil patch out there in Islamofascist land.