A lawsuit with merit:
9/11 Victims Sue over Alleged Al Qaeda Financing
Thu Aug 15, 3:06 PM ET
By Deborah Charles
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vowing to avenge the murder of their loved ones, family members of more than 600 victims of the Sept. 11 attacks on Thursday filed a lawsuit against three Saudi princes, several foreign banks and the government of Sudan for allegedly funding Osama bin Laden ( news - web sites) and al Qaeda.
"The terrorists were wrong, but the people who aided and abetted and allowed them to do this are more wrong," Matthew Sellitto, whose 23-year-old son died in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.
"The banks, so-called charities and the individuals named in this action have the blood of my son on their hands," he said, his voice breaking. "And they have the blood of more than 3,000 other precious, irreplaceable people on their hands. And we will hold them accountable."
In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, the group of family members and survivors accused seven international banks operating mainly in the Middle East, eight Islamic foundations and charities, the government of Sudan and a number of individuals of helping to fund terrorist activities.
The said they were asking for "hundreds of billions" of dollars in damages.
The individuals named in the lawsuit include Osama bin Laden and several of his family members as well as three members of the Saudi royal family: Turki al Faisal al Saud, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al Saud and Mohammed al Faisal al Saud.
The United States has blamed bin Laden and al Qaeda for the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people.
"This civil action seeks to hold those responsible for a more subtle and insidious form of terrorism, that which attempts to hide behind the face of legitimacy," the complaint said. "These entities, cloaked in a thin veil of legitimacy, were and are the true enablers of terrorism."
"The financial resources and support network of these defendants -- charities, banks and individual financiers -- are what allowed the attacks of September 11, 2001 to occur," it said. "Terrorists like Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network cannot plan, train and act on a massive scale without significant financial power, coordination and backing."
The banks named in the case are Al Baraka Investment and Development Corp, National Commercial Bank, Faisal Islamic Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment, Al Barakaat Exchange LLC, Dar Al Maal Al Islami and Al Shamal Islamic Bank.
The charitable groups include the International Islamic Relief Organization, Sanabel Al Kheer Inc, Muslim World League, Saar Foundation, Rabita Trust, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
SAUDI CONNECTION
The 259-page complaint alleged certain members of the Saudi royal family were implicated in the Sept. 11 attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who commandeered airplanes on Sept. 11 were Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia has denied any involvement and repeatedly sid its relations with the United States are strong.
Although top Bush administration officials have said publicly that relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia were strong, questions have been raised recently about the longtime U.S. ally's ties to terrorism funding.
The complaint filed on Thursday alleged Saudi money has "for years been funneled to encourage radical anti-Americanism as well as to fund the al Qaeda terrorists."
It cited a July 2002 briefing from the private RAND Corp that claimed the Saudis were active at "every level of the terror chain." |
