Investigators have traced the funding for the September 11, 2001 attacks to Al Qaeda accounts in Pakistan, a Federal Bureau of Investigation officer told the Senate Governmental Affairs committee on Thursday.

John S Pistole, deputy assistant director of the FBI's counter-terrorism division, said, "In Pakistan high-ranking and well-known Al Qaeda operatives played a major role in moving the money forward, eventually into the hands of the hijackers located in the US."

Pistole did not specify how those accounts in Pakistan were funded.

The FBI has estimated the attacks cost between $175,000 and $250,000.

That money, which paid for flight training, travel and other expenses, came to the hijackers through associates in Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

In New Delhi, an external affairs ministry spokesperson said there was nothing new in the FBI disclosure

India has emphatically conveyed to its interlocutors from the US and other countries that Pakistan continues to be the focal point of terrorism in the region and they should not overlook this in the war against the scourge.

"It being stated in a senate hearing underlines the importance of ensuring that networks linked with terrorism are credibly eradicated," the spokesperson said.

With Inputs from the Press Trust of India