A report said that the Saudi intelligence agency, led by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, has provided financial support for the al-Qaeda-linked group of al-Nusra Front in Syria.

A report said that the Saudi intelligence agency, led by Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, has provided financial support for the al-Qaeda-linked group of al-Nusra Front in Syria.

Quoting foreign intelligence sources, the Intelligence Online Newsletter said Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Presidency (GIP), took advantage of its communications with terrorists in Iraq to help establish al-Nusra Front.

“Thanks to funding from the General Intelligence Presidency and support from the Saudi intelligence in Lebanon, al-Nusra was able to swiftly arm its forces,” the newsletter reported.

It also confirmed Saudi confidential documents indicating that the Saudi Interior Ministry had sent a military official into Syria in line with Riyadh’s plans to provide the militants with money and weapons.

last month, the New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia has supplied foreign-backed militants in Syria with large cargos of infantry and heavy weapons from Croatia through Jordan.

The daily said that the “weapons began reaching rebels in December via shipments shuttled through Jordan."

It quoted one Western official as saying: "thousands of rifles and hundreds of machine guns," and an unknown quantity of ammunitions were among the weapons shipped to Syria.