October 2. 00. 3 Craig Unger Saudia Arabia. On the morning of September 1. Dan Grossi got an unexpected call from the Tampa Police Department. Grossi had worked with the Tampa force for 2. But Grossis new assignment was very much out of the ordinary. Two days earlier, terrorists had hijacked four airliners and carried out the worst atrocity in American history. Fifteen of the 1. Saudi Arabia. The police had been giving Saudi students protection since September 1. Grossi recalls. They asked if I was interested in escorting these students from Tampa to Lexington, Kentucky. Grossi was told to go to the airport, where a small charter jet would be available to take him and the Saudis on their flight. He was dubious about the prospects of accomplishing his task. Quite frankly, I knew that everything was grounded, he says. Get the latest international news and world events from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and more. See world news photos and videos at ABCNews. Netanyahu speaks with King Abdullah in bid to resolve crisis Israel sends envoy to Amman for talks after deadly shooting in embassy compound cabinet meeting and. Royal Envoy 3 is het derde deel van de hit serie op Zylom Bouw huizen voor inboorlingen van nieuw ontdekte gebieden en vergroot het koninkrijk. Walkthrough/10-Centerra/level-59-Valley/REC-59-10-03-Start%20640.jpg?height=300&width=400' alt='Royal Envoy 1 Level 57' title='Royal Envoy 1 Level 57' />I never thought this was going to happen. Even so, Grossi, whod been asked to bring a colleague, phoned Mauel Perez, a former F. B. I. agent, to put him on alert. Perez was equally unconvinced. I said, Forget about it, Perez recalls. Nobody is flying today. The two men had good reason to be skeptical. Etymology and terminology. Cannon is derived from the Old Italian word cannone, meaning large tube, which came from Latin canna, in turn originating from the Greek. Within minutes of the attacks on 91. Federal Aviation Administration had sent out a special notification called a NOTAMa notice to airmenordering every airborne plane in the United States to land at the nearest airport as soon as possible, and prohibiting planes on the ground from taking off. For the next two days, commercial and private aviation throughout the entire United States ceased. Former vice president Al Gore was stranded in Austria when his flight to the U. S. was canceled. Bill Clinton postponed travel as well. Major league baseball games were called off. For the first time in a century, American skies were nearly as empty as they had been when the Wright brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk. Nevertheless, at 1 3. Dan Grossi received his phone call. He was told the Saudis would be delivered to Raytheon Airport Services, a private hangar at Tampa International Airport. When he and Perez met at the terminal, a woman laughed at Grossi for even thinking he would be flying that day. UN News Centre Official site for daily UN news, press releases, statements, briefings and calendar of events. Includes UN radio, video, webcasts, magazines. Royal Envoy for iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac PC Take the Kings challenge Save the wonderful land of countless islands, Islandshire, from the merciless forces of. Commercial flights had slowly begun to resume, but at 1. A. M. the F. A. A. Three private planes violated the ban that day, and in each case a pair of jet fighters quickly forced the aircraft down. As far as private planes were concerned, America was still grounded. I was told it would take White House approval, says Grossi. Then one of the pilots arrived. Heres your plane, he told Grossi. Whenever youre ready to go. Unbeknownst to Dan Grossi, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the 5. Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, had been in Washington orchestrating the exodus of about 1. Saudis scattered throughout the country who were members of, or close to, two enormous families. One was the House of Saud, the family that rules the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and that, owing to its vast oil reserves, is the richest family in the world. Walkthrough/10-Centerra/level-57-Prisoners/REC-57-10-01-Start%20640.jpg?height=300&width=400' alt='Royal Envoy 1 Level 57' title='Royal Envoy 1 Level 57' />The other was the ruling familys friends and allies the bin Ladens, who, in addition to owning a multi billion dollar construction conglomerate, had spawned the notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden. Thanks to the bin Ladens extremely close relationship with the House of Saud, the familys huge construction company, the Saudi Binladin Group, had won contracts to restore the holy mosques in Mecca and Medina, two of the greatest icons in all of Islam. The repatriation of the Saudis is far more than just a case of wealthy Arabs being granted special status by the White House under extraordinary conditions. For one thing, in the two years since September 1. Saudis, including both bin Ladens and members of the royal family, have come under fire for their alleged roles in financing terrorism. Four thousand relatives of the victims of 91. Washington, D. C., charging the House of Saud, the bin Ladens, and hundreds of others with wrongful death, conspiracy, and racketeering for having contributed tens of millions of dollars to charities that were al Qaeda fronts. Newsweek has reported that Prince Bandars wife, perhaps unwittingly, sent thousands of dollars to charities that ended up funding the hijackers. In addition, F. B. I. documents marked Secret indicate that two members of the bin Laden family, which has repeatedly distanced itself from Osama bin Laden, were under investigation by the bureau for suspected associations with an Islamic charity designated as a terrorist support group. Most recently, in July, the administration asked Congress to withhold 2. According to news reports, the classified section charges that there were ties between the hijackers and two Saudis, Omar al Bayoumi and Osama Bassnan, who had financial relationships with members of the Saudi government. Saudi officials deny that their government was in any way linked to the attacks. The Saudis have asked that the pages be declassified so they can refute them, but President Bush has refused. Terrorism experts say that the Saudis who were in the U. S. immediately after the attacks might have been able to shed light on the structure of al Qaeda and to provide valuable leads for investigating 91. And yet, according to sources who participated in the repatriation, they left the U. S. without even being interviewed by the F. B. I. Officially, the White House declined to comment, and a source inside asserted that the flights never took place. However, former high level Bush administration officials have told Vanity Fair otherwise. How was it possible that, just as President Bush declared a no holds barred global war on terror that would send hundreds of thousands of U. S. troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, and just as Osama bin Laden became Public Enemy No. White House would expedite the departure of so many potential witnesses, including two dozen relatives of the man behind the attack itself The incident is particularly important in light of the special relationship the Saudis have long had with the United Statesand the Bush family in particular. For decades, Saudi Arabia has been one of Americas two most powerful allies in the Middle East, not to mention an enormous source of oil. The Bush family and the House of Saud, the two most powerful dynasties in the world, have had close personal, business, and political ties for more than 2. Frances Para Dummies Pdf. In the 8. 0s, when the elder Bush was vice president, he and Prince Bandar became personal friends. Together, they lobbied through massive U. S. arms sales to the Saudis and participated in critical foreign policy ventures. In the 1. 99. 1 Gulf War, the Saudis and the elder Bush were allies. In the private sector, the Saudis supported Harken Energy, a struggling oil company in which George W. Bush was an investor. Most recently, former president George H. W. Bush and former secretary of state James A. Baker III, his longtime ally, have appeared before Saudis at fund raisers for the Carlyle Group, arguably the biggest private equity firm in the world. Today, former president Bush continues to serve as a senior adviser to the firm, whose investors allegedly include a Saudi accused of ties to terrorist support groups. Its always been very clear that there are deep ties between the Bush family and the Saudis, says Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington, D. C., foundation that examines issues of ethics in government. It creates a credibility problem. When it comes to the war on terror, a lot of people have to be wondering why we are concerned about some countries and not others. Why does Saudi Arabia get a passOn a humid July day, Nail al Jubeir, director of information for Saudi Arabia, sits in his office in the Saudi Embassy in Washington and recalls the morning of September 1. Like many people, al Jubeir was on his way to work that morning, and as soon as he heard that a second plane had crashed into the south tower of the World Trade Center, he realized that terrorists had attacked. Over the next few days, the Saudi Embassy was in turmoil.