Judicial Watch Victory!
Court Allows JW to Probe Saudi Terror Ties

On August 7th, Judicial Watch received court authorization to intervene in a massive lawsuit in the U.S. District Court involving Saudi Arabian ties to the terrorist attacks of September 11. This decision clears the way for Judicial Watch to gain access to 28 redacted pages of the Joint Congressional Committee’s 9/11 Report dealing with Saudi Arabia. Judicial Watch believes these classified sections detail the Saudi Arabian regime’s shameless support of terrorists.

“There is a reason why these pages have been kept secret and it has nothing to do with national security,” said JW President Tom Fitton. “It has everything to do with Washington, D.C.’s cozy relationship with the terrorist-supporting regime of Saudi Arabia.”

Judicial Watch will seek documents through its ongoing lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, John Doe v. Al Baraka Investment and Development Corporation (CA No. 02-1980 (JR)).

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of a man whose wife was murdered in the attacks on the World Trade Center, names various Saudi entities and individuals, including members of the ruling Saudi family, as defendants.

According to Judicial Watch’s complaint, Al Baraka is one of the Saudi-based financial institutions to have helped Osama bin Laden establish his financial infrastructure. Saudi Royal Family members, for their part, own substantial assets in the United States. Profits from these business ventures are, in part, used to fund terrorist acts, including those which led to the murderous and cowardly sneak attacks of September 11th. Furthermore, 15 of the 19 September 11th hijackers were Saudi nationals.

“President Bush stood before the nation in the wake of September 11th and boldly offered to lead the world against terrorism,” said Fitton. “The Administration’s coddling of the Saudi Arabian government has the potential to undermine this effort.”

Judicial Watch continues to lead the effort to persuade the administration to place Saudi Arabia on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terror.

 

Sidebar:

Former President George H.W. Bush, the current president’s father, worked for the bin Laden family business in Saudi Arabia through the international investment firm, the Carlyle Group, meeting with them at least twice, according to reports. The bin Laden family runs a multi-billion dollar business in Saudi Arabia and was an investor in the senior Bush’s firm until Judicial Watch and others forced the company to sever ties. The Carlyle Group continues to advise the Saudi Arabian government. Judicial Watch has called on former President George H.W. Bush to resign from the firm.