Vinnell Corporation

A subsidiary of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems Division, Vinnell [http://www.vinnell.com] has been training the Saudi Arabian National Guard since 1975. The Vinnell presence in Riyadh has been the target of several terrorist attacks in the not-so-distant past and concerns about the development of "executive mercenaries" has grown (Hartung):

*November 13, 1995: 220-pound car-bombing of Saudi National Guard training facility.
*May 12, 2003 Car-bomb exploded in Vinnell compound killing 35 people (including 9 suicide bombers)
*June 8, 2004 A Vinnell employee was executed in his home

Links between the US trained Saudi National Guard and al Qaeda:
After the attack on the Vinnell compound in May 2003, an investigation insued to look into illegal arms sales by National Guard to al Quaeda (Finn).

Vinnell has been rumored to be a cover for CIA activity in Saudi Arabia (Buncombe).

Vinnell was owned by the Carlyle Group from 1992-1997. Dan Briody's book THE IRON TRIANGLE a study of Vinnell's one-time owners, claims that the initial contract "had a no Jews clause" (Cobain).

Brief Bibliography:
Briody, Dan. "The Iron Triangle: Inside the Secret World of the Carlyle Group". New York: John Wiley, 2003.

Buncombe, Andrew. "Terrorists' target firm accused of acting as CIA cover." The Independent (London, England), May 15, 2003 p10

Cobain, Ian. "Firm was 'Cover for CIA'; In the shadows." Times (London) May 14, 2003.

Finn, Peter. "Al Qaeda link to Saudi National Guard." The Age. May 20, 2003. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/05/19/1053196523425.html?oneclick=true]

Hartung, William. "Bombings Bring U.S. 'Executive Mercenaries' Into the Light," "The Progressive". (May 16, 2003). [http://www.fpif.org/pdf/gac/0305vinnell.pdf]

OTHER LINKS:

Center for Public Integrity [http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=64]

Disinfopedia [http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Vinnell_Corporation]

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