20 years after the Twin Towers attacks, the FBI declassifies a secret document

After strong pressure from relatives of the victims of the Twin Towers attacks, the FBI declassified on Saturday a until now secret document, which arose from the investigation into a possible involvement of the Saudi government in the attacks on iconic buildings in New York, carried out on September 11, 2001.

The document dates from 2016 and describes contacts the terrorists had with Saudis in the United States. However, does not offer clear evidence of possible involvement of the government of Saudi Arabia in the plan of attack of the country.

The report, which is 16 pages long and has multiple censored sections, was declassified in the closing hours of this Saturday as part of an order from United States President Joe Biden, which ordered the release of documents related to the investigation he conducted. The FBI on this terrorist attack that happened two decades ago.

The investigations focused on the alleged logistical support that an employee of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, California, Fahad al Thumairy, and a suspected intelligence agent of the Arab kingdom in the same city, Omar al Bayumi, could provide the terrorists. .

The declassified document claims that Al Bayumi provided “travel assistance, accommodation and funding” to two of the terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks, Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar.

At the same time, other reports declassified in recent years had already detailed these contacts and the assistance of Al Bayumi, who was arrested in the United Kingdom after the attacks and has become one of the axes of the investigation. official on September 11. .

This commission found no official evidence that the Saudi government was involved in funding Al Qaeda or the terrorist attacks. Since then, the unknown has been to determine what authorities in Riyadh, the capital of the Asian country, knew about the activities of some of its citizens, like Al Bayumi.

Data disclosed

According to the document, the alleged Saudi spy had contact with Al Thumairy, who at the time was a diplomat at the Saudi consulate. He also crossed phone calls with at least two future detainees at Guantanamo prison.

Al Bayumi, who was officially a student, was also in contact with Osama Bassnan, a Saudi national whose alleged links to 9/11 had already been revealed and who spoke “enthusiastically” about al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The report further describes Al Bayumi as a person “treated with great respect within the Saudi consulate, well regarded by consulate staff and enjoying” very high status “upon entering the building.”

Relatives of victims, compliant

The association of relatives of the “9/11 United” victims celebrated the declassification of the document And he saw it as further evidence of Riyadh’s likely links to the attacks, despite the fact that censored parts of the report make it impossible to confirm whether that means he had the approval of the Saudi government.

“Now the secrets of the saudis are exposed and it is time for the kingdom to recognize the role of its officials in the murder of thousands of people on American soil, “9/11 United” Terry Strada said in a statement.

Cientos de supervivientes y familiares de las víctimas de los atentados pidieron en agosto a Biden que no asistiera a los actos con motivo del vigésimo aniversario, llevados a cabo este sábado, a menos que su Gobierno publicara nuevos archivos sobre el presunto papel de Arabia Sauduntí what happened.

Last week, Biden ordered the Justice Department to declassify new documents over the next six months, which convinced families. Finally, the American president was able to attend the commemorative ceremony.

With information from EFE