According to court documents filed late on Monday, Saudi Arabia has asked a US judge to dismiss 25 lawsuits filed against it in relation to its alleged support of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Over the years, doubts have circled over claims that Saudi was not involved in the attack especially after it was established that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens, and several met with Saudi nationals with ties to their government before the attacks.
An executive summary from the CIA dated 2005, which says there was no evidence that Saudi Arabia supported the attackers, was among several exhibits put forward by Saudi Arabia’s lawyers to prove that the kingdom was not linked to the attacks.
The demand was made after plaintiffs could not prove the kingdom’s involvement in the attack which witnessed the hijacking of planes which were crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington, and a Pennsylvania field in an attack which claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
Saudi Arabia is being sued for billions of dollars by plaintiffs representing victims of the attacks.
James Kreindler, a lawyer representing those killed in the September 11 attacks, told Reuters news agency the filing was “expected … We have tons of allegations of what many Saudis and the country’s alter ego charities did. Saudi Arabia cannot hide from the facts.”
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