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U.S. Supreme Court green lights 9/11 victims lawsuit against Saudi Arabia

By Dan Christensen, BrowardBulldog.org 

President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting at Rawdat Khuraim in Saudi Arabia, March 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting at Rawdat Khuraim in Saudi Arabia, March 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In a decision largely unreported by the national media, the U.S. Supreme Court last week denied Saudi Arabia’s appeal that it be dropped as a defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging it bankrolled al Qaeda in the years before 9/11.

The justices ruled without comment. The long-running case, brought by thousands of 9/11 victims, relatives and others, now proceeds toward trial against Saudi Arabia and other defendants.

Plaintiffs attorneys were heartened by the high court’s decision that keeps the Saudis on the hook for potentially billions of dollars in civil damages.

“We are excited about the opportunity to pursue the first meaningful public inquiry into the evidence of possible direct involvement of agents of the Saudi government in the September 11th attacks, and concerning the involvement of Saudi government charities in channeling financial and logistical support to al Qaeda throughout the world,” said Philadelphia attorney Sean Carter.

“Based on what we have seen thus far, we expect that both inquiries will ultimately point back to the Saudi Ministry of Islamic Affairs, an arm of the government largely under the control of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi religious clerics.” Carter said.

Michael K. Kellogg, a Washington, D.C. attorney who led Saudi Arabia’s appeal effort, did not respond to requests for comment. The Kingdom, however, has called the lawsuit’s allegations “categorically false.”

Multiple lawsuits asserting a variety of claims were originally filed against hundreds of defendants – including Saudi Arabia, members of the royal family, banks and charities. The lawsuits were consolidated in federal court in New York City and a number of defendants, including the Kingdom, were dismissed in 2005 under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.

But last December, in what amounted to a reversal of its own prior opinion, a Manhattan appeals court restored Saudi Arabia as a defendant, citing legal error. The ruling also restored as a defendant the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a government agency the plaintiffs contend funneled tens of millions of dollars to terrorist fighters across the globe.

With the U.S. government as a courtroom ally, the Kingdom appealed. The Justice Department filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief arguing that both the Kingdom and its officials were immune from suit for their governmental acts.

Sharon Premoli, who survived the collapse of the World Trade Center’s North Towner, is co-chair of the activist group 9/11 Families United to  Bankrupt Terrorism.

“The US Government unfortunately chose not to stand by the families and survivors of 9/11.  All we can say is that we were very, very disappointed,” she said.

The same day the Supreme Court allowed 9/11 victims to proceed with their case against Saudi Arabia, it also refused to hear a related plaintiffs’ appeal that had sought the reinstatement of their claims against dozens of banks and individuals.

The ruling was in the case of O’Neill v. Al Rajhi Bank. The plaintiffs include the family of former FBI agent John P. O’Neill Jr., a counterterrorism expert who died in the attack on the World Trade Center. Ironically, O’Neill was among the first to focus attention on threats issued by Osama bin Laden.

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Latest comments

  • 9/11 was the most heinous case of diplomatic privilege in history.

  • THE IRAN, IRAQ TERRORIST WHO RECENTLY RECEIVED $4,2 BILLION DOLLARS FROM BARACK H. OBAMA II TO BUILD THEIR NUCLEAR BOMB WILL SOON BOMB US MURDERING OVER 21 MILLION PEOPLE WITH THE RADIATION CLOUDS MURDERING ALL FLORIDA CITIZENS. WE MUST FILE SWORN AFFIDAVITS OF ENGLISH COMMON LAW TREASON, TREASON AGAINST BARACK H. OBAMA II, REMOVE HIM BY WHAT EVER MEANS NECESSARY TODAY BEFORE 9/11 BY THE TERRORIST LOOKS LIKE A DROP IN THE BUCKET. BARACK H. OBAMA II, HAS DONE NOTHING BUT SHIT ON AMERICA, ITS CITIZENS FOR HIS PAYOFF, BRIBES BY BIG OIL TERRORIST AS GEORGE W. BUSH, ARAB BANK, THE BANK OF CHINA IS STILL FUNDING THE TERRORIST WITH OUR TAX MONEY, IF AMERICANS DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO BUY FOOD, MUST GET FOOD STAMPS WHERE iRAN, iRAQ TERRORIST GETTING THEIR MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR THEIR WEAPONS TO MURDER US, OTHERS, FROM BARACK H. OBAMA II FUNDING HAMAS, THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD WITH OUR TAX MONEY

  • BARACK H. OBAMA ii IS A EVIL MAN , WHO DOES NOT OBEY ANY LAWS, THAT IS A SUCIDE BOMBER, THAT MUST BE REMOVED WHO WAS AUTOMATICALLY REMOVED FROM HIS OFFICE BY GEORGE MAY FILING HIS INTER ALIA IN REM CIVIL FORFEITURE COMPLAINT IN FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA CASE NUMBER 01-2559 ON JANUARY 27, 2014, BY 5 U.S.C. 3331, 3333, 7311, 18 U.S.C. 1918, 2381, 2382, 2383, 2384, 2385, ACT OF CONGRESS THE SECOND CONFISCATION ACT CHAPTER CXCV, THE PRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE ORDER BY ABRAHAM LINCOLN OF NOVEMBER 13, 1862, FOR HIS NOT PAYING GEORGE MAY FOR HIS LAND, LIMESTONE, OIL, GAS, MINERALS TAKEN WITHOUT ANY PAYMENT AS HE HAS DONE TO, 19,969 PROPERTY OWNERS IN DALLAS, FORT WORTH TEXAS, TRIED TO DO TO CLIVEN BUNDY, THEN SELLING THOSE OIL, GAS RESERVES HE DOES NOT OWN TO CHINESE
    TERRORIST, BANK OF CHINA TO FUND HAMAS, THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, IRAN, IRAQ TERRORIST, ARAB BANK, BANK OF CHINA, ARAB TERRORIST, FOR HIS SELF PROFIT , TO MURDER ALL OF US, WHICH IS ENGLISH COMMON LAW TREASON, TREASON AGAINST THE STATE OF FLORIDA, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, HITLER DID THE SAME THING, PAID OFF JUDGES, CHANGED THE CONSTITUTION, MURDERED MILLION OF PEOPLE, NUREMBERG TRIALS, GERMANY, HITLER, WHAT, HOW HITLER DID IT,

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