WASHINGTON, May 26 (UPI) -- Ex-National Security Council aide Richard Clarke says he approved post-Sept. 11, 2001, flights taking Saudi Arabians out of the United States.
"It didn't get any higher than me," Clarke is quoted saying in Wednesday's The Hill newspaper. "On 9-11, 9-12, and 9-13, many things didn't get any higher than me. I decided it in consultation with the FBI."
Clarke, whose public criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the war on terror set off a firestorm, claimed sole responsibility for the approval of flights that took a number of Saudi Arabian citizens -- including members of the bin Laden family -- from the United States immediately after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
"I take responsibility for it," Clarke said. "I don't think it was a mistake and I'd do it again."
Democrats on Capitol Hill had been pressuring the commission looking into the events leading up to Sept. 11 to pursue the issue of who approved the flights, but Clarke's admission, the paper said, will likely put an end to the matter.
