(AP Photo/Portland Police Department, File).
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The second tower of the World Trade Center explodes into flames after being hit by an airplane, New York September 11, 2001 with the Brooklyn Bridge in the foreground.
An independent panel completed the 9/11 Commission Report in 2002. They also have been campaigning for the release of the previously-classified pages. The 28 pages have been kept secret for so many years that their significance seems to have been magnified over time.
Lawmakers and family members of the victims lobbied for their release, arguing the USA government was shielding an important ally.
The documents released claim Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who helped two of the hijackers in San Diego, Calif., was suspected of being a Saudi intelligence officer.
All of the Saudis named in the pages released Friday, including several who had been in direct contact with two of the hijackers during their time in the United States prior to the attacks, were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Central Intelligence Agency, with results detailed in later reports. It did not exclude the likelihood that Saudi-sponsored charities diverted funds to al-Qaida.
Responding to the report, Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said that these suspicions had been investigated in the interim years and debunked. “The surprise in the 28 pages is that there is no surprise”. The findings from a 2002 congressional inquiry into the terrorist attacks were unveiled by the House Intelligence Committee today after a longtime push to make them public.
But former Florida Sen.
“While in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government”, according to the section releasedFriday by the House Intelligence Committee with some portions blacked out. “If so, why did they keep it from the public for so many years?” The documents also indicate substantial support to California mosques with a high degree of radical Islamist sentiment.
Other official United States investigations found no evidence Saudi government officials supported the attackers.
Terry Strada, national chairwoman for 9/11 Families United For Justice Against Terrorism, also said she hoped Friday’s release would help get other material disclosed.
“There is so much more on the Saudi connection to 9/11 and this is the tip of the iceberg, but you had to get this first. It’s the beginning, but I don’t think it’s the end”.
The document mentions scores of names that the congressional inquiry believed deserved more investigation.
While the report does not find any smoking gun pointing to official Saudi involvement, it does highlight one consistently troubling theme of the kingdom’s response to the attacks: its refusal to cooperate with investigators seeking to uncover information about the hijackers.
Another figure highlighted in the documents is Osama Bassnan, a Saudi citizen who was an associate of al-Bayoumi and lived in an apartment nearby al-Hazmi and al-Midhar.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters before the pages were released that they would show no evidence of Saudi complicity.
Former President George W. Bush originally classified the chapter to protect intelligence sources, methods and undoubtedly to preserve U.S.-Saudi relations.
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Saudi officials have pointed to statements from US officials supporting their position, including an interview CIA Director John Brennan did with the Saudi-owned Arabic news channel Al Arabiya on June 12 in which he said the 28 pages were part of “a very preliminary review”.
