FBI Document Reinforces Suspicions About Saudi Arabia’s Role In 9/11 Attacks | The report was declassified by order of US President Joe Biden

A declassified FBI document reinforces suspicions that the government of Saudi Arabia may have been involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks. against the United States, but it does not provide all the evidence expected by the families of the victims. The memo, dated April 4, 2016, describes the terrorist contacts with the Saudis in the United States, even if does not offer clear reasons for possible Saudi government involvement in the plan of attack of the country.

The 16-page report with several censored sections was declassified as part of an order from US President Joe Biden to release previously secret documents into the FBI’s investigation into the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Saudi Foreign Ministry “Welcomed” Report’s Release and he felt that time will prove that there was no kind of connection.

Details of the FBI document

The memo shows the links between Omar al Bayoumi, once a student and suspected of having collaborated with the Saudi intelligence services, and two of the al-Qaeda operatives who prepared for the attacks in New York and Washington. Based on interviews conducted in 2009 and 2015 with a source whose identity has not been disclosed, the document details contacts and meetings between al Bayoumi and two hijackers, Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar, after arriving in Southern California in 2000.

“Bayoumi’s assistance to Hazmi and Mihdhar includes translation, travel, accommodation and funding”the FBI document said. It also confirms the relationship, already revealed but which appears with more force than previously suspected, between the two of them and Fahad al Thumairy, a conservative imam of the King Faad Mosque in Los Angeles, credited since the late 1990s as an official at the Saudi consulate in that city.

The report describes al Bayoumi as someone “treated with great respect within the Saudi consulate, well regarded by consulate staff, and who enjoyed a very high status upon entering the building.” It is known that 15 of 19 hijackers from the four hijacked planes that day, two of which crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, they were of Saudi nationality.

Even like that, the memorandum was heavily censored and has no clear direct link between the Saudi government and the hijackers. It was declassified due to pressure exerted on President Biden by relatives of the victims of the attacks, who accused Saudi Arabia of being complicit in the attacks.

In August, hundreds of survivors and relatives of the victims asked Biden not to attend events marking the 20th anniversary of the attack unless his government releases new files on Saudi Arabia’s alleged role. . Last week, the Democratic president ordered the Justice Department to declassify new documents over the next six months, which convinced families who agreed to allow the president to finally attend Saturday’s events.

Jim kreindler, one of the main lawyers involved in the lawsuits against the families of the victims against Saudi Arabia, said the declassified memorandum validates the key point regarding the Saudi government’s support for the kidnappers. “With this first downgrading of documents, Twenty years in which Saudi Arabia relied on the US government to cover up its role in 9/11 are drawing to a close“Kreindler said in a statement.

Other reports declassified in recent years had already detailed the contacts and assistance of al Bayoumi, who after the attacks was arrested in the United Kingdom and was one of the axes of the official investigation into September 11. through a congressional committee. This commission found no official evidence that the Saudi government was involved in financing the attacksAnd since then the question has been what Riyadh knew about the activities of some of its citizens.

Three successive US administrations had refused to declassify and publish documents related to the case. and they were accused of protecting the alliance between Washington and Saudi Arabia. The Sunni oil monarchy has always denied any involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks and was cleared of suspicion by an American commission of inquiry in 2004.

Saudi Arabia’s response

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Faisal ben Farhan, on Sunday welcomed the declassification of the FBI document and called for new details to continue to be released to prove that there was no connection between the two countries.

“For more than a decade we have called for the publication of any document of this tragic day and we are convinced that all information and data will affirm that there is no relation or involvement of the kingdom “in the attacksFarhan said at a press conference with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg.

“The release of these documents is important and we welcome further documents on this matter,” the Saudi minister noted, saying that for “decades” they have been “partners” in the fight against terrorism.