9/11 terror attacks: Saudi Arabian govt funded 'dry run' for plane hijacking, alleges lawsuit in US court

Evidence submitted in a major 9/11 lawsuit against the Saudi Arabian government alleges that the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington may have funded a ‘dry run’ for the hijacking of planes by two of its Saudi employees. This development comes after the passage of a US law last year that allows families of the victims of the 11 September attacks to sue the Saudi government. [caption id=“attachment_4029681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file image of the World Trade Center after being hit by an airplane in the 11 September terrorist attack. Both towers of the complex collapsed after being hit by hijacked planes. AFP[/caption] According to the  New York Post, an amended complaint with new proof is filed on behalf of the families of over 1,400 victims, who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks 16 years ago. The complaint says that the Saudi Embassy paid for two Saudi nationals Mohammed al-Qudhaeein and Hamdan al-Shalawi, who were living undercover in the United States as students, to fly from Phoenix to Washington in a rehearsal for the conspiracy. The 9/11 terror attacks were a series of coordinated attacks by the Islamist terrorist group Al-Qaeda on the United States. According to ANI, the attacks killed 2,997 people, injured over 6,000 others, and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It is to be noted that fifteen of the 19 men who carried out the 2001 attacks were Saudi nationals. The class action lawsuit says that the Saudi Arabian government may have even been involved in sponsoring the attacks from the earliest stages, including testing cockpit security. Sean Carter, the lead attorney for the 9/11 plaintiffs, said that this is proof of the “longstanding and close relationships between Al-Qaeda and the religious components of the Saudi government”. The complaint also reportedly cites FBI documents which say that the “students” were part of the “kingdom’s network of agents in the US” who actively participated in the strike. The New York Post reports that the FBI also confirmed that Qudhaeein’s and Shalawi’s airline tickets for the alleged “dry run” were paid for by the Saudi Embassy in question. The advocates for the case argue that this court filing shows, “a pattern of both financial and operational support” for the “conspiracy from official Saudi sources”. According to Al Jazeera, Saudi Arabia has always denied any involvement whatsoever in the attack on the World Trade Center. Waleed Nassar, an international disputes attorney told Al Jazeera “the evidence, along with much of what has been submitted, is innuendo and circumstantial”. ANI adds that Gulf countries were reportedly used to receive funds from banks in Pakistan and UAE, owned by the UAE royal family, to finance terror strikes in the US in 2001 and Mumbai in 2008. The New York Post states that the lawyers representing Saudi Arabia have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which may be headed towards trial as Congress has cleared diplomatic-immunity related obstructions. The 9/11 plaintiffs have been asked to respond to the motion by November.