Saudi links in US shown in release of document
THE FBI has released a newly declassified document relating to logistical support given to two of the Saudi hijackers in the run-up to the September 11 US terrorist attacks.
The document details contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the US but does not provide proof that senior Saudi government officials were complicit in the plot.
Released on the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the document is the first investigative record to be disclosed since US president Joe Biden ordered a declassification review of materials that for years have remained out of public view. The 16-page document is a summary of an FBI interview from 2015 with a man who had frequent contact with Saudi nationals in the US who supported the first hijackers to arrive in the country before the attacks.
Last week, Mr Biden ordered the Justice Department and other agencies to conduct a declassification review and release what documents they could over the next six months.
He had encountered pressure from victims’ families, who have long sought the records as they pursue a lawsuit in New York alleging that Saudi government officials supported the hijackers.
The heavily redacted document was disclosed on Saturday night, hours after Mr Biden attended September 11 memorial events in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Victims’ relatives had earlier objected to Mr Biden’s presence at ceremonial events as long as the documents remained classified.
The Saudi government has long denied any involvement.
The Saudi Embassy in Washington said it supported the full declassification of all records as a way to “end the baseless allegations against the kingdom once and for all”.
The documents are being released at a politically delicate time for the US and Saudi Arabia, two nations that have forged a strategic – if difficult – alliance, particularly on counterterrorism matters.
Victims’ relatives welcomed the document’s release as a significant step in their effort to connect the attacks to Saudi Arabia. Brett Eagleson, whose father Bruce was killed in the World Trade Centre attack, said the release of the FBI material “accelerates our pursuit of truth and justice”.
Jim Kreindler, a lawyer for the victims’ relatives, said “the findings and conclusions in this FBI investigation validate the arguments we have made in the litigation regarding the Saudi government’s responsibility for the 9/11 attacks”.