Washington ? The FBI said Friday that it had investigated two Saudi Arabian men who provided assistance to at least two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, a disclosure that comes amid fierce debate in the intelligence community over whether the investigation of the men also points to disturbing new links between the attacks and the Saudi government.

Government sources said Friday there were some indications that high-level Saudi officials were providing money to the two men, who in turn helped San Diego-based hijackers become established in the the United States by making rent payments and providing other assistance.

But congressional and Justice Department sources said there was major disagreement among intelligence and law enforcement officials over whether the Saudi sponsors knew that the funds were ultimately being used to assist al-Qaida operatives.

One congressional source said that remained a central and unresolved question for the joint congressional panel conducting an ongoing probe of intelligence failures surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks.

“That is something we would be interested in,” one congressional source said. Investigators “want to find out the complicity or knowledge of officials of a foreign government. If members felt there was some complicity or active knowledge and support, that would be a big deal. But we’re not there yet. All we have is circumstantial evidence.”

The possibility of Saudi government links to the hijackers is sensitive for the Bush administration, which values the oil-rich Persian Gulf state as an important ally, one that is even more important as the U.S. government contemplates a war with Iraq.

The matter has become a source of significant friction between congressional investigators and the Justice Department. Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been pressuring the Justice Department for weeks to declassify new information and evidence surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks.

In recent interviews, Graham has refused to discuss the nature of that evidence, but sources have said that it related to connections between the San Diego hijackers and a foreign government. The San Diego hijackers were both Saudi citizens.

Congressional sources said lawmakers were frustrated that the FBI hadn’t been more aggressive in pursuing the matter.

But a Justice Department official said the FBI had been aware of the evidence since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, and is convinced that it did not point to Saudi complicity in the attacks.

“It’s a suspected linkage that isn’t true,” the official said, adding that the matter was so sensitive that many believe even airing the suggestions of Saudi links would significantly hamper the war on terrorism.

The FBI declined official comment Friday, citing its ongoing investigation into terrorism. Spokesman Steven Berry, reading from a prepared statement, said that the FBI was investigating the two men who assisted the terrorists, Osama Bassnan and Omar Al Bayoumi. The bureau noted that it previously charged both men with visa fraud.