White House Does Not Think 9/11 Report Sheds Light on Saudi Role in Attack

The White House does not believe the 28 pages just declassified from a 2002 congressional investigation into the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States will shed any new light on the Saudi role in the assaults, White House spokesman Josh Earnest stated in a press briefing on Friday.

WASHIGNTON (Sputnik) — When asked if the White House thought the 28 pages would shed new light on the Saudi role in relation to 9/11, Earnest stated, "No, we do not."

Earnest added that, "It [report] will confirm what we have been saying for quite some time, which is that this material was investigative material that was reviewed and followed up on by the independent 9/11 commission."

The commission concluded that no evidence was found of the Saudi government or an individual senior official’s involvement in the terrorist attacks.

However, the declassified pages of the 2002 joint congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks found that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) flagged five individuals with suspected Saudi government ties in connection to some of the September 11, 2001 hijackers.

The report identified two individuals, Omar al-Bayoumi and Osama Bassnan, as suspected Saudi intelligence officers.

Other individuals identified include Osama Bin Laden's half-brother, Abdullah Bin Laden, who allegedly worked at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, DC, as well as Saleh al-Hussayen, reportedly a Saudi Interior Ministry official, and Shayk al-Thumairy, an accredited Saudi diplomat.