In a landmark decision, a New York district court has ruled that families of 9/11 victims can sue the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its alleged involvement in the terrorist attacks. The ruling, made by District Judge George Daniels on Thursday, was made possible by a 2016 law that weakens the legal protections typically enjoyed by sovereign nations in American lawsuits involving terrorism.
The case, which was first filed in 2002, centers around allegations that 9/11 terrorists Nawaf Salem al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Midhar received support from individuals closely linked to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Lawyers Jodi Westbrook Flowers and Donald A. Migliori, who represented the victims’ families, hailed the judgment as an important day for justice.
Despite the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s claims of innocence, the court found that their explanations were either conflicting or insufficient to overcome the evidence that they had employed Bayoumi and Thumairy to assist the hijackers. While the 9/11 Commission found no conclusive evidence of Saudi government involvement in the attack, recent lawsuits and declassified FBI reports paint a compelling case that Saudi intelligence agent Omar al-Bayoumi provided logistical support to the terrorists, aided by Saudi diplomat and cleric Fahad al-Thumairy.
If further investigations find any official complicity of Saudi Arabia in the attacks, it could have significant consequences for the country’s relationship with the United States. However, the Kingdom has repeatedly denied all allegations.
The two hijackers, al-Hazmi and al-Midhar, were known to the CIA for their ties to al-Qaeda. They arrived in the United States on legitimate passports and visas, but for unknown reasons, the FBI was not alerted to their arrival until August 2001. It was later revealed that al-Bayoumi, with the help of al-Thumairy, provided support to the two men, including finding them accommodation in San Diego and assisting them with financial matters.
Phone records and eyewitness accounts showed that al-Bayoumi remained in close contact with the hijackers for several months, and analysis of their calls also revealed connections to cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have been the spiritual advisor to the hijackers. While al-Bayoumi claimed to be studying business in San Diego, he was also working for the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation, but records showed he rarely showed up for work. After 9/11, he was located in Birmingham, UK, where he was running a student society with ties to the Saudi Embassy.
In 2007, a hand-drawn diagram of an aircraft descending to strike a spot on the ground, similar to the flight path of Flight 77, was found among al-Bayoumi’s papers in his UK home.