Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with 9/11 attacks, claim the country’s lawyers

A court battle is taking place over alleged involvement by the Kingdom

New York’s 110-storey World Trade Center

(AP)

Lawyers acting on behalf of Saudi Arabia have strongly denied allegations that the country had anything to do with the financing of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Papers were filed at a US court by the lawyers say there is no evidence that Saudi Arabia supported or caused the 9/11 attacks and urge a judge to dismiss claims stemming from a 2002 lawsuit against the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia was amongst a number of organisations taken to court in 2002 after the attacks but the case against the country’s government was thrown out on the grounds of sovereign immunity.

A Federal appeals court however in 2013 reinstated the case against the regime – arguing that the extraordinary circumstances meant there was a legal exception.

The lawyers defending the country’s government wrote: “If they had a single piece of evidence that would stand up in court, they would highlight it in their papers.

“Instead, they focus heavily on witnesses manifestly lacking personal knowledge, and on newspaper articles, blog posts, and similar multiple hearsay. They thus reveal that they have nothing better.”

Saudi Arabia is an autocracy ruled by a hereditary monarch. The country is routinely criticised for alleged human rights violations, especially on the grounds on gender inequality.

The papers were filed the day after reports in the US newspaper The New York Post claimed that the FBI had ‘covered up’ an investigation into the Saudi elite’s alleged involvement.

Former Democratic Senator Bob Graham, who chaired the congressional inquiry into 9/11, told the New York Post yesterday that he believed the FBI was covering up Saudi links to the outrage.

The final 28 pages of his report are classified, and he wants the US president to make them public.

“The 28 pages primarily relate to who financed 9/11, and they point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as being the principal financier,” he said.