A Saudi court has jailed at least 13 men on counts including the recruitment of Al Qaeda militants for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and sheltering Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, Saudi newspapers said on Tuesday.
Most of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people were Saudis, and some of the victims' families are pursuing a lawsuit accusing Saudi Arabia of providing material support to Al Qaeda, a charge which Riyadh denies.
The Arabic-language newspaper Asharq al-Awsat said one of the defendants confessed in court that he had met Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks and helped him shelter at the home of a Saudi citizen living in Pakistan after he fled the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
A militant cell which the defendant founded contained two members who would go on to participate in the September 11 attacks.
A Justice Ministry spokesman was not immediately available to comment but the Interior Ministry said it was checking the report.
The kingdom successfully stamped out the violence with a major security crackdown, putting many behind bars and outlawing their groups. Hundreds of suspected militants have been tried in a series of hearings since 2006.
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