The Saudi Arabia embassy in the United States could have bankrolled a "Dry Run" in the run up to the devastating 9/11 attack. According to The New York Post, evidence submitted in an ongoing case suggests that two employees working at the embassy conducted the dry run before a dozen terrorists hijacked two airplanes and crashed them into the Twin Towers, leading to the deaths of approximately 3,000 people in 2001.
Saudi religious leaders gave support to terror masterminds
Filed on behalf of 1,400 relatives of the 2001 terrorist attack, Saudi Arabia paid the two men, who posed as American students, to take the test flight from Phoenix to Washington to check the security parameters before the 9/11 attack.
The Independent reported the families lawyer, Sean Carter saying that the plaintiffs have long asserted that the Al Qaeda terrorist group had strong ties with religious factions in the Saudi Arabia government.
Saudi Arabia has denied any links to 9/11, and its lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The families are required to respond to the motion by November this year. Congress voted into law the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act on September last year. Thanks to the act, the case could go to trial. The bill was passed despite a veto by former President Barack Obama and massive lobbying by the Saudi Arabian government.
Masterminds trained with the Al-Qaeda
The New York Post reported the lawsuit by the plaintiffs claims that Saudi Arabia provided both financial and operational support in the months leading up to the 9/11 terror attack.
According to documents provided by the FBI, the two men who posed as US students were affiliated with Saudi Arabia's network of intelligence agents operating in the United States. The FBI documents stated that the two men- Mohammed al-Qudhaeein and Hamdan al-Shalawi received their training in Afghanistan alongside other members of the Al-Qaeda terror network who participated in the attack.
Al-Qudhaeein was reportedly an employee of the kingdom's Ministry of Islamic Affairs, while Al-Shalawi had been a long-time staffer at the Saudi Arabia consulate in the United States.
It is alleged that the two masterminds boarded an America West plane headed to Washington, where they tried to enter the cockpit several times.
During the flight, the two men plied the flight attendants with technical questions, causing suspicion. Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband perished in the 9/11 attack, said that the Saudi embassy funded the two men's air tickets. According to The New York Post, the two terrorists resided in Arizona and kept constant communication with the Saudi Arabia consulate in Washington.
