Early on al-Qaeda captured several towns and places with the implicit help of Saudi Arabia. It also received weapons and large payments. When its expansion became too obvious, the Saudis moved other proxy forces into those places or simply asked al-Qaeda to raise a different flag. The reporting deeper into the AP piece indeed concludes that al-Qaeda is not only paid to leave, but is hired and equipped by the Saudis to fight on all fronts. It provides that the U.S. war of terror against al-Qaeda is just a sham:
