Washington: High-ranking al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan funded the September 11, 2001, attacks on World Trade Centre in New York that killed hundreds of people, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said.

"We have traced the origin of the funding of 9/11 back to financial accounts in Pakistan, where high- ranking and well-known al-Qaida operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the US," a top FBI official was quoted as saying on the report which was submitted to a US Senate panel.

John S Pistole, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, however, did not elaborate as to how and from where the bank accounts in Pakistan were funded.

According to an estimate, the September 11 attacks cost between 175,000 and 250,000 USD. "That money, which paid for flight training, travel and other expenses, flowed to the hijackers through associates in Germany and the United Arab Emirates. Those associates reported to one Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who planned most of the attacks from Pakistan," the report said.

The FBI did not specify the role played by Saudi Arabia. Richard Newcomb, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said that some Saudi organisations provide considerable support for terrorism.

"The extent to which that takes place is not completely clear, but I would characterise it as considerable," he added.

ANI