SYDNEY - A US lawyer claimed Tuesday to have found evidence that money from Saudi Arabia was used to fund terrorist cells linked to the October bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
The attorney, Allan Gerson, said he traced Saudi funds through terror cells in Europe and on to groups in Bali linked to the bombings which killed nearly 200 people, 88 of them Australian.
"When we looked at the actual evidence, we found out, to our surprise, how vast the network of support was, it extended way beyond cells in Europe to cells in Bali," Gerson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"I discovered that connection to the Bali bombing," he said.
Gerson has been leading a bid on behalf of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States to sue Saudi Arabian banks, charities and royal family members for allegedly helping fund the terrorists.
He said the evidence gathered during research for that suit showed that Saudis gave money to terrorists in Europe who travelled to Bali and likely provided funds for the October car bombings.
The bombings have been blamed on a radical Indonesian group, Jemaah Islamiyah, which allegedly has links to the al-Qaeda network that carried out the September 11 attacks.
"I have come across evidence that shows you can connect the dots between terror cells in Europe that received financing from individuals and entities in Saudi Arabia.
"Those terrorists cells in Europe definitely had connections with Bali,"he said.
Gerson said he could not reveal too many details of his evidence because it had been gathered through judicial cooperation with European governments.
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