WASHINGTON-The U.S. Congress on Friday released a long-classified section of the official report on the September 11 attacks that discussed potential links between some of the hijackers and Saudi Arabia but said the links were not independently verified.
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Several investigations into 9/11 followed the congressional inquiry, which released its report – minus the secret chapter – in December 2002.
The document names individuals who knew the hijackers after they arrived in the United States and helped them get apartments, open bank accounts and connect with local mosques.
Saudi officials have long said the 28 pages provide no evidence that the USA ally was involved in the attacks, and that conclusion was echoed by the lawmakers who released the document.
Two years ago, under pressure from the families of those killed or injured on September 11, and others, President Barack Obama ordered a declassification review of the chapter.
The 28 pages that will be sent to the U.
Relatives of 9/11 victims welcomed the release, saying it confirmed their suspicions.
15 of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi citizens. “It’s the beginning, but I don’t think it’s the end”, said Terry Strada, national chair for 9/11 Families United For Justice Against Terrorism. Richard Blumenthal of CT.
Later probes found no evidence the Saudi Arabian government had knowledge of the plan to attack America, or that any of its officials knowingly supported the Al Qaeda members who carried out the atrocity.
The Obama Administration presented the 28 redacted pages of the 9/11 Commission Report to the House Intelligence Committee, which has made those pages available to the public.
Earlier, Minister Al-Jubeir said, “It is time to close this chapter and move on to strengthen efforts to defeat the terrorists who are threating your people and ours”. He was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the half-brother of Al Qaida founder Osama and a “possible associate” of Mohammed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, both of whom took part in the 9/11 attacks. The plane made an emergency landing and the FBI investigated, but did not prosecute.
For example, the pages list one individual, Omar al-Bayoumi, as being a potential tie between the Saudis and the hijackers.
“These pages, while they don’t shed any new light or change any of the conclusions about responsibilities for the 9/11 attacks, they are consistent with the commitments to transparency that the administration has tried to apply to even sensitive national security issues”, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.
The phone book of an Al Qaeda operative captured in Pakistan meanwhile pointed to US contacts, notably a company that managed a Colorado property of the then Saudi ambassador. According to a Central Intelligence Agency memo referenced in the report, Bassnan received financial aid from the former Saudi ambassador to the United States Bandar bin Sultan.
And yet the document is also something of a historical curiosity.
Other information suggested that a Saudi interior ministry official stayed in the same Virginia hotel as one of hijackers, only days ahead of the attacks.
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Today, Congress released a mysterious classified document that reveals the links between 9/11 and a Saudi network that was allegedly aiding the hijackers.
