The Iranians allegedly received the money to reimburse Khashoggi from the Iranian government. From February to June 1986, 180 tons of military cargo left Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX, allegedly bound for Iran. Khashoggi reportedly put up the initial financing for many of those shipments. He received the money form Saudi investors, many who allegedly either had ties to the house of Saud or were members of the royal family.

In 1985, Khashoggi received a thank-you letter from Vice President Bush for his $1,000 donation to the Contras.

The Saudi government reportedly knew in advance that a percentage of the proceeds from the sale would go to the Nicaraguan Contras. Robert McFarlane secretly asked them at least twice to contribute directly to the Contra cause. He reportedly asked them for $8 million and $10 million in May or June of 1984. The CIA supposedly used Saudi money to finance the Contras after Congress refused to appropriate any more funds to the contra operation. Because of the convoluted way arms deals are conducted, most of the money went to pay the commissions of the various arms dealers the Contras themselves received very little in cash or weapons for the hundreds of millions spent by the U.S. and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, who supported the CIA effort to fund the Contras.

Khashoggi's motive for brokering those deals was to make money from the Iran arms market which was suffering from a world-wide arms embargo and, therefore, would be willing to pay premium prices for the weapons it needed to fight its ten-year war with Iraq.

BANDAR BIN SULTAN, A CIA AGENT

Khashoggi was not the only Saudi involved in funding the Contras. In May 1984, Bandar met with President Reagan. Shortly after that meeting, the President invoked his emergency powers to order a sale to the Saudis of 400 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles over Congressional disapproval. That same month, Prince Bandar bin Sultan allegedly approached Robert McFarlane with an offer to make secret contributions of $1 million a month to aid the Contras. Although Bandar allegedly offered to make the contributions from his personal wealth, the distinction between money that belongs to the royal family versus money that belongs to the Saudi Arabian government does not exist. The royal family uses the government treasury as their own personal bank. Investigators found eight $1 million deposits made to the Cayman Island bank account between July 1984 and February 1985.

Bandar has long been a friend of the CIA. When CIA director William Casey wanted Saudi cooperation in assassinating alleged terrorists, King Fahd appointed Bandar as Saudi point man for dealing with the CIA. Unfortunately, the plan they cooked up went awry. Instead of killing the supposed terrorist, the car bomb they rigged murdered 80 innocent people in a Beirut suburb.

KING FAHD DOUBLES THE MONEY

The Saudis allegedly funded the Nicaraguan Contras and rebels in Angola and Afghanistan as payment for AWACS planes equipped with early-warning radar systems. In addition to funding rebels in Nicaragua, Angola and Afghanistan, the Saudis allegedly gave $13 million to three joint U.S.-Saudi covert operations. To facilitate the aid to the Contras, the Saudis employed retired U.S. Air Force Major-General Richard Secord, who handled the 1981 AWACS sales to Saudi Arabia, and his business partner, Albert Hakim, as middle men. King Fahd himself reportedly asked an American to be a middle man handling up to $15 million for the Contras. Congress discovered $250 million in Saudi money in a secret Swiss bank account set up by the CIA to funnel money to Afghan rebels. During the Tower Commission hearings on the Iran-Contra scandal, legislators also heard testimony from individual such as, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Vessey, about the Saudis giving over $32 million to the Contras. They deposited the money in a secret bank account in the Cayman Islands. These contributions rose sharply after King Fahd visited President Reagan February 11 and 12, 1985.

When Bandar's promised contributions ended, Robert McFarlane arranged a state visit between King Fahd and President Reagan.Upon the king's arrival, McFarlane made an unannounced visit to Bandar's residence where Fahd was staying. There, McFarlane discussed continuing aid to the Contras. According to the President, Fahd promised to double the amount of Bandar's contributions. Shortly after Fahd left the U.S., the Saudis deposited $5 million dollars in the Cayman Islands account for the Contras and then began making $2 million a month in secret contributions.

The U.S. kept the Saudis up-to-date on the Contras supply needs through a computer in Costa Rica, a country bordering Nicaragua, that sent the information via satellite to a computer in Saudi Arabia. This computer reportedly tracked Saudi funds as well as the Contras inventory of uniforms, weapons, and equipment.