Riyadh - He said Mateen performed the Umrah pilgrimage for 10 days in March 2011, and eight days the following March.
Published: Mon 13 Jun 2016, 8:08 PM
Updated: Mon 13 Jun 2016, 10:20 PM
Omar Mateen, who killed 49 people in a gun attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, travelled to Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012, Saudi Interior Ministry security spokesman Major General Mansour Turki said on Monday.
He said Mateen performed the Umrah pilgrimage for 10 days in March 2011, and eight days the following March.
However, a US official said the Saudis so far have not provided any evidence that Mateen made contact with known extremists during his visits to the kingdom, adding that anyone thought to be a threat is kept under surveillance by Saudi authorities, although that doesn't mean they have a handle on everyone with radical views or contacts.
Early on Sunday, Mateen stormed the nightclub with a handgun and an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, fatally shooting 49 people before police killed him in the worst mass shooting in US history. Fifty-three others were wounded, many critically.
US authorities said Mateen called police during the massacre to pledge allegiance to Daesh, which in recent years declared a caliphate over large swathes of Iraq and Syria. But the depth of his commitment to the militant group is unclear.
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