Saudis Could Pull Billions From US Economy Following 9/11 Lawsuits

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Saudi Arabia and its allies could retaliate against US legislation allowing the kingdom to be sued for the 9/11 attacks, including scaling back investment in the US economy or restricting access to important regional air bases, experts claim.

“This should be clear to America and to the rest of the world. When one Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) state is targeted unfairly, the others stand around it,” Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, a professor of political science at United Arab Emirates University, told Associated Press.

“All the states will stand by Saudi Arabia in every way possible.”

On Wednesday, Congress overwhelmingly voted to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the bill that would allow Americans to potentially sue Saudi Arabia for 9/11. Lawmakers said their priority was not Saudi Arabia, but victims and families.

The “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)” would allow US judges to waive sovereign immunity claims when dealing with acts of terrorism committed on American soil – potentially allowing lawsuits against Saudi Arabia over the 9/11 attacks. 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals.

Chas Freeman, former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm, told AP that Saudi Arabia could respond in a way that risks US strategic interests.

That could include Saudi restricting its rules for overflight between Europe and Asia and the Qatari air base from which US military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria are directed, Freeman says.

“The souring of relations and curtailing of official contacts that this legislation would inevitably produce could also jeopardize Saudi cooperation against anti-American terrorism,” Freeman told AP.

Obama vetoed JASTA last week, saying it would erode the doctrine of sovereign immunity and expose the US to lawsuits around the world.

Earlier this month, the group expressed “deep concern” over JASTA, with its Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani calling it “contrary to the foundations and principles of relations between states and the principle of sovereign immunity enjoyed by states.”

In a separate statement, the government of Qatar said JASTA ”violates international law, particularly the principle of sovereign equality between states,” according to Reuters.

“Such laws will negatively affect the international efforts and international cooperation to combat terrorism,” said the Emirates Foreign Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, according to the state news agency WAM. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were Emirati.

RT

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One thought on “Saudis Could Pull Billions From US Economy Following 9/11 Lawsuits

  • September 30, 2016 at 11:21 am
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    I really disagree. The KSA can affect the USA in other various ways but not on money. The USA can freeze this money anytime, as it happened with Russia, Iran, Libya, and others. But all these issues will become clear soon. Some analysts think that this may be a pressure from the USA on the KSA to recognize Israel publically and others think that the KSA will become the other new victim after Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Somalia. US imperialism cannot go after Iran, because Iran has army and weapons and strong enough to counter any future hostility. The KSA has been left alone now and other countries will not support the Kingdom in any move against it. Many strong Arab countries feel that the Kingdom has left them behind. Israel will not defend the Kingdom should it be needed. Finally, US imperialism has enough oil and does not mind if oil prices increase, because oil companies are one important driving force of US imperialism. One example may help. President Saddam, May Allah put Mercy upon him, thought logically and scientifically that US would not destroy him, because he was the one who could fight Iran any time for them and for the Arabs. But that logic was wrong.

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