Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama is denying reports that he had a relationship with Dr, Khalid al-Mansour, a key advisor to Saudi princes accused of supporting terrorism. Al-Mansour also advised the founders of the militant Black Panthers group.

“Obama did not know and does not know Khalid al-Mansour,” Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, told Politico.

Kenneth Timmerman of Newsmax.com reported that al-Mansour helped secure a letter of recommendation for Obama to get into Harvard Law School. Timmerman cited an interview Percy Sutton, a friend of al-Mansour’s, with Dominic Carter of NY1. Sutton said he wrote Obama the letter after he received al-Mansour’s request. Sutton also said that al-Mansour was helping raise money for Obama’s education.

Among the Saudi princes al-Mansour has advised is Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, who has donated millions of dollars to Muslim non-profit organizations later shut down for supporting terrorism. The prince has also hosted fundraisers for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

Video tapes of al-Mansour posted on YouTube show him making anti-Semitic and anti-Christian statements. Amanda Carpenter of Townhall.com linked to the videos here: VIDEO

Politico reported that al-Mansour said that he never met Obama and denied ever trying to get him a letter of recommendation, saying he first heard of him after his 2004 speech at the Democratic Party convention. Newsmax.com later reported that their interview with al-Mansour contradicted Politico’s report.

Politico also reported that a spokesperson for the Sutton family had retracted his original statement about the connection between Obama and al-Mansour. Newsmax.com contacted the Sutton family who denied that a retraction had occurred and claimed they did not know the so-called spokesperson.

Timmerman also raised questions about Obama’s account of how he paid for his education at Harvard Law School, saying he’d need approximately $75,000 to pay for his three years there. Obama says he paid for his education with loans. Timmerman then cited a Chicago Tribune report that said Obama received $42,753 to pay for his education at Harvard, leaving over $32,000 unaccounted for.

“Where did he find the money? Did it come from friends of Khalid al-Mansour? And why would a radical Muslim activist with ties to the Saudi royal family be raising money for Barack Obama?,” Timmerman wrote.