By Diego Ramos / Original to ScheerPost
A lawsuit filed by family members of 9-11 victims reveals explosive facts in an 80-page redacted document that alleges the Saudi Arabian government provided major state support to al-Qaeda for the attacks in New York City 23 years ago. The plaintiffs’ attorneys contend that Saudi government officials established and ran a network within the U.S. and provided essential support to the first group of 9-11 hijackers who entered the country.
The entire narrative of the War on Terror, which included the invasion, occupation and destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, appears to be crumbling and as an Atlantic report puts it, the potential truth would prove “the costly policies that the United States has pursued for the past quarter century have been rooted in a false premise.”
Key parts of the document allege the connection between Saudi officials and the hijackers who made their way to the U.S. Specifically, Fahad al-Thumairy, a recognized diplomat at the Los Angeles Saudi consulate, and Omar al-Bayoumi, who the FBI identified as a Saudi intelligence operative, were named as central figures.
The filing states:
The evidence is clear that Saudi Arabia deployed its officials and agents to serve in an illegal government enterprise that was extensively intertwined with terrorism, so that the agents were acting within their core mission when they helped integrate the hijackers into the United States.
The evidence also shows that Bayoumi and Thumairy acted at all times in accordance with the directives of more senior Saudi officials, which separately establishes that they were acting within the scope of their agencies and employment.
Furthermore, the filing argues the extent to which Bayoumi and Thumairy provided specific support for the hijackers, including safe reception, transportation and housing. Mosques in San Diego and Los Angeles served as places to support extremists through Saudi Arabia. The filing states:
Plaintiffs’ expert Bassem Youssef testifies, based on his firsthand investigative experience, that Saudi Arabia created, supported, and operated a platform for Sunni extremists…
The document also mentions Southern California as a hub for extremist activity and Thumairy’s overwatch there as “the nucleus of a radical platform first established by Saudi Arabia over a decade earlier.”
The filing also mentions the extent to which Southern California continued to operate as a hub for terrorist activity even after the Sept. 11 attacks:
Over the decade following its establishment and through September 11, 2001, the Saudi government’s MOIA [Ministry of Islamic Affairs] platform in Southern California served continuously as a hub for promoting jihadism and for hosting, supporting, and providing cover for Islamist extremists and terrorists.
Thumairy and Bayoumi’s support of 9-11 hijackers Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi is mentioned to have been replicated following the 2001 attack, serving as a core part of their work for Saudi Arabia.
Thumairy and Bayoumi regularly hosted extremists on missions to the United States as a feature of their core work for the MOIA. They did so in coordination with senior Saudi government Islamic Affairs officials, and in circumstances that mirror their mobilization of support for and hosting of Hazmi and Mihdhar.
Below is the redacted public filing, which can also be found here:
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