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| Congress Releases Secret 9/11 Document Detailing Possible Saudi Ties to Al Qaeda | Congress Releases Secret 9/11 Document Detailing Possible Saudi Ties to Al Qaeda |
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| WASHINGTON — Congress on Friday made public a long-classified document detailing possible connections between the Saudi government and the Sept. 11 terrorist plot. | WASHINGTON — Congress on Friday made public a long-classified document detailing possible connections between the Saudi government and the Sept. 11 terrorist plot. |
| The 28-page document is a wide-ranging catalog of alleged links between Saudi officials and Qaeda operatives. It details contacts that Saudi operatives in Southern California had with the hijackers, and describes the discovery of a telephone number in a Qaeda operative’s phone book that was traced to a corporation managing a Colorado home of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then the Saudi ambassador to Washington. | The 28-page document is a wide-ranging catalog of alleged links between Saudi officials and Qaeda operatives. It details contacts that Saudi operatives in Southern California had with the hijackers, and describes the discovery of a telephone number in a Qaeda operative’s phone book that was traced to a corporation managing a Colorado home of Prince Bandar bin Sultan, then the Saudi ambassador to Washington. |
| The document, a section of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, had been kept secret out of concern that it might fray diplomatic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Its release marks the end of a yearslong fight by lawmakers and families of the Sept. 11 victims to make public any evidence that the kingdom might have played a role in the attacks. | The document, a section of a 2002 congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks, had been kept secret out of concern that it might fray diplomatic relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Its release marks the end of a yearslong fight by lawmakers and families of the Sept. 11 victims to make public any evidence that the kingdom might have played a role in the attacks. |
| The majority of the facts surrounding the attacks are not in serious dispute, but the enduring controversy over what role — if any — Saudi officials played is a reminder that some mysteries linger even as the 15th anniversary of the attacks approaches. | The majority of the facts surrounding the attacks are not in serious dispute, but the enduring controversy over what role — if any — Saudi officials played is a reminder that some mysteries linger even as the 15th anniversary of the attacks approaches. |
| The Obama administration sent a declassified version of the document, with some redactions, to the congressional leadership on Friday. It was released hours later on the website of the House Intelligence Committee. | The Obama administration sent a declassified version of the document, with some redactions, to the congressional leadership on Friday. It was released hours later on the website of the House Intelligence Committee. |
| The document “does not change the assessment of the U.S. government that there’s no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded Al Qaeda,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Friday, quoting the commission’s finding word for word. | The document “does not change the assessment of the U.S. government that there’s no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded Al Qaeda,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Friday, quoting the commission’s finding word for word. |
| Mr. Earnest said the hints that investigators had about potential support for the attacks by the Saudi government or top officials “didn’t really turn up anything.” | Mr. Earnest said the hints that investigators had about potential support for the attacks by the Saudi government or top officials “didn’t really turn up anything.” |
| Much of the push over more than a decade to get the document declassified was led by former Senator Bob Graham, the Florida Democrat who was one of the co-chairmen of the congressional inquiry. Mr. Graham has long said that releasing it would provide compelling evidence that the Saudi government had a direct hand in the terrorist plot. | Much of the push over more than a decade to get the document declassified was led by former Senator Bob Graham, the Florida Democrat who was one of the co-chairmen of the congressional inquiry. Mr. Graham has long said that releasing it would provide compelling evidence that the Saudi government had a direct hand in the terrorist plot. |
| And yet the document is also something of a historical curiosity. The 28 pages have been kept secret for so many years that their significance seems to have been magnified over time. Subsequent investigations by the Sept. 11 commission and the F.B.I. have pursued many of the leads in the 28 pages and found some had no basis in fact. | And yet the document is also something of a historical curiosity. The 28 pages have been kept secret for so many years that their significance seems to have been magnified over time. Subsequent investigations by the Sept. 11 commission and the F.B.I. have pursued many of the leads in the 28 pages and found some had no basis in fact. |
| In an interview last month, Eleanor J. Hill, the staff director of the congressional inquiry, called the 28 pages a “summary of the information given to the agencies for further investigation” rather than a list of firm conclusions. The Sept. 11 plot remains an open investigation at the F.B.I. | In an interview last month, Eleanor J. Hill, the staff director of the congressional inquiry, called the 28 pages a “summary of the information given to the agencies for further investigation” rather than a list of firm conclusions. The Sept. 11 plot remains an open investigation at the F.B.I. |
| In its final report, released in 2004, the Sept. 11 commission said it had found no evidence that the “Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded” Al Qaeda. But some commission staff members point out that the wording did not rule out the possibility that lower ranking Saudi officials had assisted the hijackers and said that the commission operated under extreme time pressure and could not run down every lead. | |
| In particular, some investigators remain puzzled by the exact role played by Fahad al-Thumairy, a Saudi consular official based in the Los Angeles area at the time of the attacks. They believe that if there had been any Saudi government role in the plot, it probably would have involved him. | In particular, some investigators remain puzzled by the exact role played by Fahad al-Thumairy, a Saudi consular official based in the Los Angeles area at the time of the attacks. They believe that if there had been any Saudi government role in the plot, it probably would have involved him. |
| Mr. Thumairy was the imam of a mosque visited by two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and some American government officials have long suspected that Mr. Thumairy assisted the two men — Nawaq Alhamzi and Khalid al-Midhar — after they arrived in Los Angeles in early 2000. | Mr. Thumairy was the imam of a mosque visited by two of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and some American government officials have long suspected that Mr. Thumairy assisted the two men — Nawaq Alhamzi and Khalid al-Midhar — after they arrived in Los Angeles in early 2000. |
| An F.B.I. document from 2012, cited last year by an independent review panel, concluded that Mr. Thumairy “immediately assigned an individual to take care of al-Hazmi and al-Mihdhar during their time in the Los Angeles area,” but the F.B.I. has been unable to piece together other details of the movement of the two men during their early days in the United States. | |
| Two investigators for the Sept. 11 commission interviewed Mr. Thumairy for several hours in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in February 2004, but he denied having any ties to the hijackers — even after being presented with phone records that seemed to link him to the two men. | Two investigators for the Sept. 11 commission interviewed Mr. Thumairy for several hours in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, in February 2004, but he denied having any ties to the hijackers — even after being presented with phone records that seemed to link him to the two men. |
| The 28 pages discuss the possible role Mr. Thumairy played, as well as a number of possible connections between Qaeda operatives and Saudi officials. One section of the report details how a phone number in a telephone book found with Abu Zubayda, who was captured in Pakistan in March 2002 by the C.I.A., was traced to a corporation in Aspen, Colo., that “manages the affairs of the Colorado residence of Prince Bandar. | The 28 pages discuss the possible role Mr. Thumairy played, as well as a number of possible connections between Qaeda operatives and Saudi officials. One section of the report details how a phone number in a telephone book found with Abu Zubayda, who was captured in Pakistan in March 2002 by the C.I.A., was traced to a corporation in Aspen, Colo., that “manages the affairs of the Colorado residence of Prince Bandar. |
| Abdullah al-Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said in a statement Friday that the kingdom “welcomes the release” of the document. | Abdullah al-Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United States, said in a statement Friday that the kingdom “welcomes the release” of the document. |
| “Since 2002, the 9/11 Commission and several government agencies, including the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., have investigated the contents of the ‘28 Pages’ and have confirmed that neither the Saudi government, nor senior Saudi officials, nor any person acting on behalf of the Saudi government provided any support or encouragement for these attacks,” he said. | “Since 2002, the 9/11 Commission and several government agencies, including the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., have investigated the contents of the ‘28 Pages’ and have confirmed that neither the Saudi government, nor senior Saudi officials, nor any person acting on behalf of the Saudi government provided any support or encouragement for these attacks,” he said. |
| “We hope the release of these pages will clear up, once and for all, any lingering questions or suspicions about Saudi Arabia’s actions, intentions, or long-term friendship with the United States.” | “We hope the release of these pages will clear up, once and for all, any lingering questions or suspicions about Saudi Arabia’s actions, intentions, or long-term friendship with the United States.” |
| The document was released at a particularly troubled moment in America’s decades-long relationship with Saudi Arabia. The Senate unanimously passed a bill in May that would make it easier for families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the Saudi government for any role in the attacks. The bill is now being considered in the House. | |
| The White House has threatened to veto the legislation, but the Obama administration has had its own recent period of tension with Saudi leaders over the Iran nuclear deal and the grinding war in Syria. | The White House has threatened to veto the legislation, but the Obama administration has had its own recent period of tension with Saudi leaders over the Iran nuclear deal and the grinding war in Syria. |