US News and World Report, 12/15/2003 It is not known how long this policy will continue, but there is evidence it continues until 9/11. In August 2001, former CIA agent Robert Baer will attempt to give the CIA a list of hundreds of al-Qaeda operatives in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, but the CIA will show no interest in it. Fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers will reportedly come from Saudi Arabia.