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The FBI released a newly declassified 16-page document concerning logistical support provided to two Saudi hijackers prior to the September 11, 2001 attack.
The document, released late on Saturday, described the hijackers’ connections with Saudi associates in the United States, but did not provide evidence of the Saudi government’s involvement in the conspiracy.
This is the first investigation record disclosed since US President Joe Biden ordered a declassified review of materials that have been out of public view for many years.
Biden has been under pressure from the families of the victims in recent weeks, who have been seeking records for a long time because they filed a lawsuit in New York, accusing senior Saudi officials of participating in the attack.
Soon after the attack, speculation about official involvement began to spread, when 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudis. Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaida at the time, also came from a prominent family in the country.
However, the Saudi government has long denied any involvement. The Saudi Embassy in Washington said on Wednesday that it supports the full declassification of all records in order to “end the baseless allegations against the Kingdom once and for all”.
The embassy stated that any accusation that Saudi Arabia is an accomplice is “absolutely false.”
The Saudi government denies sending money to the two hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar (left) and Nawaf al-HazmiBiden ordered the Department of Justice and other agencies to declassify and review the investigation documents last week and publish them as much as possible in the next six months. A few hours after Biden attended the commemorative events held in New York, Pennsylvania, and Northern Virginia on September 11, the 16 pages were released on Saturday night.
Relatives of the victims — who are seeking billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia — had earlier opposed Biden’s attendance at the ceremony, as long as the documents remained confidential.
An accidental encounter?
This heavily edited record describes an interview in 2015 with a person applying for U.S. citizenship who had had multiple contacts with Saudi nationals many years ago, and investigators said these individuals provided “important logistics for several hijackers”. support”.
The man’s identity has been obscured throughout the document, but is described as having worked at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles.
The documents show that there is a Saudi named Omar al-Bayoumi among his contacts.
Al-Bayoumi, who has links with the Saudi government, helped the two hijackers find and lease an apartment in San Diego shortly after arriving in Southern California.
Al-Bayoumi described his meeting with the hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar’s restaurant in February 2000 as an “accidental encounter.” During the interview, the FBI tried several times to determine whether this description was accurate. According to documents , It has actually been arranged in advance.
“Bayumi’s assistance to Khazmi and Mihadar included translation, travel, accommodation and financing,” the document said, adding that the wife of an FBI source told them that Bayumi often talks about “jihad.”
The document also mentions Fahad al-Thumairy, who was an accredited diplomat at the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles at the time, and investigators said he led a hardliner in his mosque.
According to the document, a communication analysis identified a 7-minute call from al-Thumairy’s phone to a Saudi Arabian home phone in 1999. The two brothers later became detainees at Guantanamo Bay Prison.
al-Bayoumi and al-Thumairy left the United States a few weeks before the attack.
Relatives of the victims cheered the release of the document, believing it was an important step in linking the attack to Saudi Arabia.
Brett Eagleson’s father, Bruce, was killed in the World Trade Center attack. He said that the release of FBI materials “accelerated our pursuit of truth and justice.”
The victim’s relative’s lawyer, Jim Kreindler, said in a statement, “The findings and conclusions of the FBI’s investigation confirm our responsibility for the Saudi government’s 9/11 attacks in the lawsuit. Arguments made.
“This document, together with the public evidence collected so far, provides a blueprint for how to [al-Qaeda] Operate in the United States with the active and informed support of the Saudi government,” he said.
He added that this included exchanges of phone calls between Saudi officials and members of Al Qaeda, and then “unexpected meetings” with the hijackers, while providing them with help to settle down and find the flight school.
The United States had previously investigated some Saudi diplomats and others who had connections with the Saudi government, and they knew the hijackers after they arrived in the United States. But the report of the 9/11 Committee found that “there is no evidence that the Saudi government as an agency or a high-level Saudi official solely funded the attack planned by al-Qaeda.”
However, the committee noted the “possibility” of charities funded by the Saudi government to do so.
In a statement on behalf of the 9/11 Family Coalition, Terry Strada’s husband Tom was killed on September 11, 2001. He said that the FBI’s document had eliminated any complaints against Saudi Arabia. Any suspicion of participating in the attack.
Strada said: “Now that Saudi secrets have been exposed, Saudi Arabia should admit that the role of its officials in the murder of thousands of people on American territory has passed.”
The new document was released during a politically sensitive period in the United States and Saudi Arabia, and the two countries have formed a strategic alliance—if difficult—alliance, especially on the issue of counter-terrorism.
The Biden administration issued an intelligence assessment in February suggesting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the 2018 killing of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but for avoiding direct punishment The crown prince himself drew criticism from the Democratic Party.
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