A federal judge in New York has dropped Saudi Arabia from a list of defendants in a lawsuit brought by the families of victims of the 9/11 attacks which attempted to implicate the middle eastern kingdom in the attacks. U.S. District Judge George Daniels said that not enough evidence was provided to link elites in Saudi to the terrorist event.
“The allegations in the complaint alone do not provide this court with a basis to assert jurisdiction over [the] defendants,” Daniels’ filing notes.
“The broad allegations turn in large part on speculative opinions.” the judge also stated.
Daniels concluded that there is no conclusive proof that Saudi leaders financed the attacks by funneling money to Al Qaeda operatives.
The judge ruled, therefore, that the country still has sovereign immunity in the case.
Daniels also rejected testimony from the so called ’20th hijacker,’ Zacarias Moussaoui, who has claimed under oath that a Saudi prince financed his flight school studies, as well as that of the other 19 hijackers.
The case has been years in the making. The smoking gun evidence linking Saudi Arabia isn’t present because it is still being withheld from public release by the US government.
There are 28 secret pages from a congressional report into the attacks, which are thought to implicate the Saudi royal family. The pages were extracted from the report in 2002 and made secret by the Bush government on “national security” grounds.
Senator Rand Paul has been supporting an ongoing effort to release the government documents, having introduced legislation earlier this year called the “Transparency for the Families of 9/11 Act,” that would force the Obama administration to disclose the pages.
“We owe it to these families, and we cannot let this lack of transparency erode trust and make us feel less secure.” Paul has stated.
Other lawmakers, including Rep. Walter Jones and Sen. Ron Wyden signed on to Paul’s bill as cosponsors. The two have been campaigning for a number of years to have the 9/11 information uncovered.
Former Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.), who oversaw the Congressional inquiry, and is adamant that there is a Saudi related cover up, said “The 28 pages are very important and will, I think, inform the American people and, in so doing, will cause the American government to reconsider the nature of our relationship with Saudi Arabia,”
“But beyond that, these are emblematic of a pattern of withholding information unnecessarily and to the detriment of the American people.” Graham added.
The section of the inquiry, titled “Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain National Security Matters,” is thought to have been held back by both the Bush and Obama administrations “for fear of alienating an influential military and economic partner rather than for any national security consideration,”the New York Times reported earlier this year.
CNN also reported in February that the 28 pages “focus on the role of foreign governments in the plot.”
Barack Obama previously promised families of 9/11 victims that he would declassify the pages. “And he hasn’t kept his word,” Rep. Jones told The Daily Beast.
“I don’t know if it might be embarrassing to the Bush administration, how close they were to the Saudi family,” Jones said. “I just don’t know. I can’t put my fingers on it.”
The Associated Press reports that a lawyer for the 9/11 families has vowed to appeal the decision to remove Saudi Arabia as a defendant in the lawsuit.
“Evidence central to these claims continues to be treated as classified,” Sean Carter said. “The government’s decision to continue to classify that material certainly factored into this outcome.”
