Saudi cakewalk….

Think this has anything to do with the U.S. Congressional report on the intelligence failures related to 9/11, critical of the Saudis, released here last week?

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia -- Six suspected militants were killed Monday in a firefight with Saudi police, who raided a farm where they were hiding out. Two police also were killed.

The shootout, which came amid an anti-terror crackdown in the kingdom, took place in al-Qassim, 220 miles north of the capital, Riyadh, state-run TV quoted a Ministry of Interior statement as saying.

The article later suggests as much. (Check out the quote from the defense minister! Isn't he as much as saying that the Saudis have gotten a free pass from the Bush family?)

A U.S. Congress report on Sept. 11 released last week accused Saudi Arabia of not doing enough to counter terrorism.

The unclassified version of the report also said that one suspected organizer still at large paid many of the expenses of two Sept. 11 hijackers and "had access to seemingly unlimited funding from Saudi Arabia." It did not say if Saudi government funds were involved.

Saudi officials have rejected those conclusions.

"We are confident about ourselves and it is just a matter of mere talk," Defense Minister Prince Sultan was quoted by the official Saudi Press Agency as saying Sunday night. "The American administration under the leadership of Bush has declared officially that the kingdom is not a party in these issues."

Complete story here.