Newly declassified pages from a congressional report into the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US released on Friday have reignited speculation that some of the hijackers had links to Saudis, including government officials — allegations that were never substantiated by later US investigations into the terrorist attacks.
The US Congress released the last chapter of the congressional inquiry that has been kept under wraps for more than 13 years, stored in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol.
Lawmakers and relatives of victims of the attacks, who believe that Saudi links to the attackers were not thoroughly investigated, campaigned for years to get the pages released.
The lightly redacted document names individuals who helped the hijackers get apartments, open bank accounts and connect with local mosques. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi and several were not fluent in English and had little experience living in the West.
Former US senator Bob Graham, the co-chairman of the congressional inquiry, who pushed hard for the last chapter of the inquiry’s report to be released, believes the hijackers had an extensive Saudi support system while they were in the US.
Saudi Arabia itself has urged the release of the chapter since 2002 so the kingdom could respond to any allegations.
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubier on Friday told reporters that his government welcomed the release of the 28 pages and added that the documents should finally put to rest questions about Saudi Arabia’s suspected role in the attacks.
“That matter is now finished,” al-Jubier said. “The surprise in the 28 pages is that there is no surprise.”
The 9/11 Families and Victims welcomed the release, and said it confirmed what they have long known.
“Each of the claims the 9/11 families and victims has made against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoys extensive support in the findings of a broad range of investigative documents authored by multiple US intelligence agencies,” the families said.
US Senator Richard Blumenthal said in a statement that the documents “provide more than enough evidence to raise serious concerns. These concerns should be addressed and proved or disproved.”
The document mentions scores of names that the congressional inquiry believed deserved more investigation.
Among those named is Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi who helped two of the hijackers in California, and was suspected of being a Saudi intelligence officer.
The 9/11 Commission report found him to be an “unlikely candidate for clandestine involvement” with Muslim militants.
The new document said that according to FBI files, al-Bayoumi had “extensive contact with Saudi government establishments in the United States and received financial support from a Saudi company affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense... That company reportedly had ties to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida,” which orchestrated the attacks.
Another is Osama Bassnan, who lived across the street from two of the hijackers in California.
According to an FBI document, Bassnan told another person that he met the hijackers through al-Bayoumi.
Bassnan told an FBI asset that “he did more than al-Bayoumi did for the hijackers.”
The office of the Director of National Intelligence on Friday also released part of a 2005 FBI-CIA memo that said “there is no information to indicate that either [Bayoumi] or [Bassnan] materially supported the hijackers wittingly, were intelligence officers of the Saudi government or provided material support for the 11 September attacks.”
US Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, and vice chairwoman Dianne Feinstein urged the public to read the results of other investigations by the CIA and FBI that “debunk” many of the allegations, and put conspiracy theories to rest.
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