Saudi’s Say Time To Lay Ghost Of 9/11 Suspicion To Rest
By Arab News
The release of the 28-page report on Friday fully exonerating Saudi Arabia of any alleged ties to 9/11 and has gained significant attention from analysts, politicians and judicial experts in the Kingdom and the United States.
Top American congressmen, political analysts and other government officials are calling for an end to the rumors and conspiracy theories that accuse the Kingdom of wrongdoing, and fully shifting the focus to identifying the true perpetrators of the attacks.
Republican Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee, in a statement on Friday, advised the American people to review the contents of the papers and put an end to all misinformation and conspiracies that do not serve the families of the victims. He said the release of the 28-page report confirms and clarifies that there were no findings of any involvement by the Saudi government or officials.
Congressman Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, placed the blame on the weakness of the efforts of intelligence agencies in collecting information, noting a clear gap in the report and lack of strong intelligence information about imminent threats to US national security. “It is important to note that that this section does not put forward vetted conclusions, but rather unverified leads that were later fully investigated by the intelligence community,” he said.
“I know that the release of these pages will not end the debate over the issue, but it will quiet rumors over the contents — as is often the case, the reality is less damaging than the uncertainty,” added Rep. Adam Schiff of California, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. He said the committee had directly investigated with Saudi government officials, after the attacks, about planning or assisting in its implementation, but did not obtain any sufficient evidence supporting such conspiracies.
“This is not the end,” added former Sen. Bob Graham, who had led efforts to release the papers, pointing out his desire to keep investigations going.
“Most of what we know about the attackers reached us from the investigations offices in southern California, which is what the 29-pages focused on, whereas two-thirds of those involved in the attacks were living in Florida and we do know all the details until know regarding their funding and assistance,” he said.
In turn, White House spokesman John Ernst said in a press conference on Friday that the papers do not shed any new light or change any outcomes about who was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, and that the government was keen on releasing these papers due to its obligation to transparency, especially in a sensitive issue that affects national security. He said the information included in the report does not change the American government’s position, which is that there is no evidence pointing to the involvement of the Saudi government or any of its officials in supporting Al-Qaeda to carry out these terrorist attacks.
