9/11 US Families Must Still Prove Saudi Complicity If Allowed to Sue

The fact that US families trying to sue Saudi Arabia for damages resulting in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks must still prove Saudi complicity.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik), Leandra Bernstein — The US families trying to sue Saudi Arabia for damages resulting in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks must still prove Saudi complicity, despite possible legal changes allowing them to bring the case to court, former US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told Sputnik on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the US Senate unanimously passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) that would clarify existing US law to allow victims of terrorism sue governments believed to be responsible for facilitating the act.

A group of families who lost a loved one or suffered damages during the September 11 attacks have a pending lawsuit against the government of Saudi Arabia, which has been repeatedly blocked as a result of Saudi claims to sovereign immunity.

"I am not sure I understand that that [a lawsuit] solves their problem, because now you have to go through and prove that the government of Saudi Arabia was complicit in some way," Rogers told Sputnik.

Rogers, who served in Congress from 2001 until 2015, explained that he has concerns about the proposed legislation, and did not indicate any support for JASTA.

Following the September 11 attacks, an independent US commission issued conclusive findings saying that it had no evidence of Saudi government sponsorship, even though 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Skeptics of the official findings have claimed there is evidence indicating top Saudi officials, including former Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin-Sultan, had provided financial support to a number of the hijackers.

Some of the family members seeking to prosecute the Saudi government for damages have claimed that a classified 28-page chapter of a joint congressional investigation has information relevant to their claims of Saudi sponsorship of the terrorist attacks.