- September 12, 2021 may be a good day for world tourism. Late Saturday, September 12, 2021, the FBI released newly classified documents in regards to the September 11, 2001 terror attack in the United States.
- The document describes contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the US but offers no evidence the Saudi government was complicit in the plot.
- The FBI has released a newly declassified 16-page document related to logistical support provided to two of the Saudi hijackers in the run-up to the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The global travel and tourism industry had also been waiting for this FBI report to be released to shed light if Saudi Arabia’s Government supported the September 11, 2001 hijackers and terrorists.
The reason: Saudi Arabias recent support and provided leadership for global tourism.
A silent stopper in supporting and understanding Saudi Arabia’s intention for its much needed support for tourism in impossible times going through the COVID-19 pendemic included clouds of sucpision. The suscpicions went louder every day leading to the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terror attack.
On the very same when billions in the world remembered 20 years after September 11, US president Biden sealed a final chapter over this sucpicion in releasing classified documents of the FBI investigation on Saudi Arabia’s role – if any.
Setpember 12 after September 11, 2001 was a day of Day of Unity in the United States and the civilised world
The world changed for the United States on September 12,2001 in bringing the country and the World together on September 12, the day after September 11.
Today Americans were reminded that America must stand together again. The U.S. today got a taste on how much better the country would be if people find a way to unite again.
Releasing the FBI documents was not only a smart international step, but an important step in the healing process domestically.
It should be noted, 20 years ago the Taliban appealed to the United States not to attack Afghanistan. The lack of a diplomatic solution resulted in a 20 year war, and the fear of more terror today.
The FBI investigation document released late today, September 11,2021 describes contacts the hijackers had with Saudi associates in the United States but offers no evidence the Saudi government was complicit in the plot.
It is the first investigative record to be disclosed since US President Joe Biden ordered a declassification review of materials that for years have remained out of public view.
The Saudi government has long denied any involvement. The Saudi Embassy in Washington said on Wednesday that it supported the full declassification of all records as a way to “end the baseless allegations against the Kingdom once and for all”.
The embassy said that any allegation that Saudi Arabia was complicit was “categorically false”.
The Saudi government denied sending money to two of the September 11 hijackers, Khalid al-Mihdhar, left, and Nawaf al-Hazmi
US President Biden last week ordered the Justice Department and other agencies to conduct a declassification review of investigative documents and release what they can over the next six months.
16 pages were released on Saturday night, hours after Biden attended September 11 memorial events in New York, Pennsylvania, and northern Virginia. Victims’ relatives had earlier objected to Biden’s presence at ceremonial events as long as the documents remained classified.
The heavily redacted record released on Saturday describes a 2015 interview with a person who was applying for US citizenship and years earlier had repeated contacts with Saudi nationals who investigators said provided “significant logistical support” to several of the hijackers.
The Biden administration in February released an intelligence assessment implicating Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the 2018 killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi but drew criticism from Democrats for avoiding a direct punishment of the crown prince himself.
Regarding September 11, there has been speculation of official involvement since shortly after the attacks, when it was revealed that 15 of the 19 attackers were Saudis. Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida at the time, was from a prominent family in the kingdom.
The US investigated some Saudi diplomats and others with Saudi government ties who knew hijackers after they arrived in the US, according to documents that have already been declassified.
Still, the 9/11 Commission report found “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded” the attacks that al-Qaeda masterminded. But the commission also noted “the likelihood” that Saudi government-sponsored charities did.
Particular scrutiny has centered on the first two hijackers to arrive in the US, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. In February 2000, shortly after their arrival in southern California, they encountered at a halal restaurant a Saudi national named Omar al-Bayoumi who helped them find and lease an apartment in San Diego, had ties to the Saudi government and had earlier attracted FBI scrutiny.
