ARAB-US RELATIONS - Oct. 15 - Al Qaida Prisoner Speaks Of Saudi Funding Of Bali Blast.

Omar Al Faruq, an Al Qaida-trained Kuwaiti arrested in Indonesia in June and being held by US forces in Afghanistan, tells US interrogators that Abu Bakr Bashir, the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah group suspected of responsibility for the Oct. 12 bombings in Bali, was backed by a Saudi who gave $74,000 to buy explosives. Al Faruq tells US interrogators that Abu Bakr Bashir was sent the money earlier this year. The explosives were bought from Indonesian army officers who sold the material illegally, Al Faruq says. Abu Bakr Bashir vigorously denied ties with Jemaah Islamiah, and condemned the Bali bombings as a "brutal act" which he blamed on the US. (Before he has spoken favourably of Al Qaida and has had close ties with Riduan Isammudin, a confidant of Osama Bin Laden. Abu Bakr Bashir is accused by Singapore and Malaysia of involvement in Jemaah Islamiah terrorist plots, but Indonesia has always said it has insufficient evidence to act against him).