Joining me now in Tampa is former federal prosecutor John Loftus who's been looking into this stuff.

John, what it's bridge to al Qaeda?

JOHN LOFTUS, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: The World Association of Muslim Youth, WAMY, had a really big presence in Florida and a few other states. WAMY seems to be a nice social association for young Muslims in their teens and twenties to get involved in, but it's -- the reality is it's a talent-spotting outfit for al Qaeda.

The World Association of Muslim Youth, in fact, is run out of Falls Church, Virginia, by Usama bin Laden's brothers. Omar (ph) and Abdullah (ph) bin Laden are the blood brothers of Usama. They're children of the same mother, so they're very close.

GIBSON: Is this a Saudi operationrMD+DN_rMDNM_?

LOFTUS: These guys...

GIBSON: Was Saudi money running it?

LOFTUS: Pardon?

GIBSON: Is this a Saudi operation? Was Saudi money behind this?

LOFTUS: It absolutely was Saudi money. There was a formal FBI investigation open on this by FBI Agent Robert Wright saying he wanted to investigate the Saudi money flowing to WAMY following to the recruitment of terrorists. You know what happened? Robert Wright was told to close down his investigation.

GIBSON: Because the United States did not want to be -- want to embarrass the Saudis?

LOFTUS: This is a consistent pattern we're finding all across America. Good people in CIA and FBI wanted to do their jobs, tried to do their jobs, tried to connect the dots and, time after time after time, were told to stop, and...

GIBSON: Now Padilla...

LOFTUS: ... my only surprise is...

GIBSON: Padilla married...

LOFTUS: ... there aren't more Padillas and John Walkers.

GIBSON: Padilla married an Egyptian woman and moved to Cairo for a time. Isn't that a logical connection to get to Pakistan and Abu Zubaydah and al Qaeda?

LOFTUS: Didn't have to go that far. The founder of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which was founded in Egypt, in Cairo, actually is a professor of the University of South Florida. He's the mentor for the Muslim Youth Association.

What the Saudis have done is they subsidize 80 percent of the mosques in America, and the one that pays the bills calls the tunes. The Saudis have put this organization, the World Association of Muslim Youth, in virtually every major mosque in the country. They're all over Florida, and they work directly for Usama bin Laden's brothers.

That's how they talent-spot these guys.

GIBSON: John Loftus...

LOFTUS: If we want terrorism to stop, we have to tell the Saudis to stop funding it.

GIBSON: John Loftus, former federal prosecutor, coming to us from Tampa.

John, thanks a lot.

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