More than 700 families of heroes killed in the 9/11 attacks are still fighting to hold Saudi Arabia accountable in a massive lawsuit, but they fear that terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s recent plea deal could hinder the two-decade-old case.
As news of Mohammed’s plea deal spread from Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday, some 150 family members of those killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks sat in a Manhattan courtroom to debate whether the kingdom of Saudi Arabia should be held liable in a $100 billion civil lawsuit.
“Many families have expressed dismay, disgust and concern about the plea agreement,” said attorney Jerry Goldman, one of the leading plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit that has been going on for nearly two decades.
“They’re concerned about the lack of evidence, the lack of transparency and the consequences.”
The day-long hearing centered around efforts by Saudi Arabia’s lawyers to remove the country from the case, arguing that it had fought terrorism, not supported it.
Judge George B. Daniels did not issue a ruling at the end of the hearing, causing anxiety for the victim’s family.
The families first filed the lawsuit in 2004 and have long alleged that religious extremist groups used influence over the Saudi government to provide assistance to the hijackers.
A total of 2,977 civilians were killed when 19 Al Qaeda terrorists, 15 of whom were Saudi Arabian nationals, hijacked four passenger planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The terrorist group’s leader, Osama bin Laden, came from one of Saudi Arabia’s wealthiest families, but he became such a vocal critic of both the United States and his home country that Saudi Arabia stripped him of his citizenship.
After years of twists and turns, including a congressional bill that would have made it easier for families of 9/11 victims to sue countries suspected of sponsoring terrorism, the case consolidated other lawsuits and strengthened accusations that Saudi authorities conspired with the hijackers who entered the United States in the early 2000s.
According to court documents, suspected Saudi Arabian spy Omar al-Bayoumi hosted a “welcome party” for the two hijackers, made flight calculations to fly the plane to its target, and was at one point seen on a chilling video “spying” on the U.S. Capitol.
“Simply put, our evidence establishes that a group operating out of Southern California provided material support to the two hijackers and aided them in carrying out their mission to commit mass murder, and we believe this group was operating on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Goldman told The Post on Thursday.
Goldman is representing Christine O’Neill, the widow of former FBI counterterrorism director John P. O’Neill, who died at age 49 while helping to evacuate the South Tower during the 9/11 attacks, and thousands of other co-plaintiffs.
Grieving families hope that while Mohammed and his co-conspirators, Waleed Mohammed Saleh Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam Al Hawsawi, will never be brought to justice, their alleged backer, the Saudi Arabian government, will be brought to justice in court, said Terry Strada, president of 9/11 Families United.
“Saudi Arabia’s lawyers tried every possible way to convince the court but were only successful in convincing the donors,” Strada said in a statement.
“The court must deny the motion to dismiss and allow this case to move forward.”
Goldman said the plea deal, which allows Mohammed and two other defendants to avoid the death penalty, means Saudi Arabia remains a defendant in the case and there is a risk that less evidence will emerge if it goes to trial.
He said the U.S. government had not shared the evidence in the criminal case against the 9/11 plotters with the families’ lawyers, but stressed that the case already represents “very powerful and devastating evidence” against the Kingdom.
“I don’t know what I’m missing,” he said.
“I know we have a lot, but I believe there’s a lot that I don’t have.”
