“In mid-June [1998], Prince Turki [al Faisal], then intelligence chief [for Saudi Arabia], traveled to Kandahar [Afghanistan]. ‘I asked [Taliban leader] Mullah [Mohammad] Omar to hand him [Osama bin Laden] over and he agreed,’ Turki later said in an interview. ‘I was told their interests were with us and not with any individual. Mullah Omar asked me to inform the king [Fahd] and the crown prince [Abdullah] that he wanted to set up a joint Saudi-Afghan committee to arrange procedures for the handover.’ But the joint committee was to be a committee of ulema [religious scholars], Omar’s favorite form of procrastination and of avoiding political negotiations. Turki accepted, thinking it provided the Taliban a way to save face. He asked Omar explicitly if the only thing lacking was the modalities. ‘Assure the king and the crown prince that this is my view,’ Omar replied. In July, Omar sent Abdul Wakil Muttawakil, his future foreign minister, to Saudi Arabia with an assurance that a joint committee was being set up. It never came about.” [The 15th of the month used for date sorting purposes only.]
– Roy Gutman, How We Missed the Story, Page 130