At the direction of President Biden, the Justice Department and FBI released a 16 page declassified report involving the possible involvement of Saudi Arabia in the September 11 attack. While the heavily redacted report contains no conclusive evidence of direct involvement of the Saudi regime, it looks at allegations that the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles indirectly aided two of the 9-11 hijackers, Nawaf Al- Hazmi and Khalid Al -Midhar. Over the next few months, the FBI has been ordered to release additional documentation that could reveal additional Saudi officials' involvement with the hijackers. Infamously, the Saudi government flew members of the bin Laden family out of the U.S. in the hours after the attacks on 9-11 despite the grounding of air flights. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
From the New York Times reporting:
"Speculation around the possible Saudi role increased over the years because of the government’s refusal to declassify 28 pages of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks that specifically addressed possible connections between the kingdom and the terrorist plot.
The document was finally released in 2016, and it detailed numerous suspicious meetings between Saudi officials and the Sept. 11 hijackers, and checks from Saudi royals to operatives in contact with the hijackers. It was also an unflattering picture of the kingdom’s efforts to thwart American operations against Al Qaeda in the years before the attacks." (our emphasis)
We can expect the Saudi royal house to mount a widespread and well-funded campaign of denial and diversion over the next few months as more documents are declassified, and as more questions are raised about any Saudi connection to 9 -11, and equally important, the time following the attack. For whatever their role, hold them to account.
(photo: The former guy and his dear friend, Saudi Crown Prince "Bone Saw" bin Salman. AFP)
