The US Senate unanimously passed a bill allowing the families of people killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States to sue the government of Saudi Arabia. However, the White House has indicated that president Barack Obama would veto the measure.
Riyadh lambasted the US for allowing 9/11 victims to investigate the role it played in the conflict, threatening to sell its US debt assets and wreck financial havoc.
However, the US Treasury Department released a breakdown of Saudi Arabia’s holdings of US state debt after keeping the figures secret for more than four decades at the kingdom's request due to 1970s oil embargo-era pressure. It discovered that gas-rich Riyadh's threats were little more than hot air.
