‘Blame us for 9/11 and face the consequences’ Saudi Arabia issues warning over terror link

SAUDI Arabia has warned the United States of serious consequences if a ruling is made holding it responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

The bill, being sponsored by two US senators, would allow victims of 9/11 and other terror attacks to sue foreign governments and financial partners of terrorism.

But Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir has warned that the Middle Eastern country will sell off billions in American assets if it is passed.

Opposers of the bill have warned it would leave the US open to being sued by other countries, and if the Saudis carry out their threat to sell assets it would have a serious effect on the American economy.

However, experts have claimed it would be incredibly difficult for Saudi Arabia to sell all those assets and the move would have an equally crippling impact on its own economy.

Some families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 tragedy believe Saudi officials played a part in the savage attack but the kingdom denies any involvement and the 9/11 Commission found “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organisation.”

But many believe victims would have a strong claim against Saudi Arabia for the attacks, which were plotted by Riyadh-born Osama bin Laden.

A 28-page section of the report, said to focus on the role of foreign governments in the plot, has not been made public.

Former President George W Bush said releasing that information would jeopardise America's ability to gather intelligence on suspected terrorists and President Barack Obama has continued with that view.

Obama has opposed the bill, which he says will have a negative effect on Americans abroad, but his opinions have angered 9/11 victims' families who feel he is siding with the Saudis.

But Mindy Kleinberg, whose husband died in the World Trade Centres, said: "It’s stunning to think that our government would back the Saudis over its own citizens."

Families of both victims and survivors of the 9/11 attacks have filed a lawsuit against the Saudi government, but the claim was thrown out last year when a federal judge ruled the kingdom had sovereign immunity in the case.

Almost 3,000 people died on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes and flew them into the World Trade Centres in New York and the Pentagon.

The fourth plane was believed to be headed for Washington DC but crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, as its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals and in February Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker who pleaded guilty to participating in an al Qaeda conspiracy in connection to the 9/11 attacks, alleged members of the Saudi royal family supported al Qaeda.

Al-Jubeir was said to have delivered the message during a trip to Washington last month.