A Saudi named in a recently-published US report as being involved in the 11 September terrorist attacks, Omar al-Bayoumi, on 3 August denied any involvement and said that he was willing to face questioning from US investigators. The statement, made in an interview on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television station, follows intense publicity surrounding the release of a 900-page study by congressional experts into intelligence related to the attacks, in which Al-Bayoumi is named (MEED 31:7:03). A 28-page section on the financing of the terrorists was suppressed, while widely reported leaks indicated that the finger was pointed at Riyadh. The kingdom demanded that the pages be declassified in order that it could mount a defence, but the request was refused on the grounds of the need to protect sources and of ongoing criminal investigations. Al-Bayoumi was named in the published section of the report, as a suspected Saudi intelligence agent who assisted two of the hijackers to settle in the US. In spite of the row over publication, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on 30 July gave permission for the US security services to question Al-Bayoumi, who has since returned to Saudi Arabia.