US Senate passes bill allowing Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia

[Drew Phipps]

US Senate passes bill allowing Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia

May 17th 2016 12:02PM

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/05/17/us.../21378870/

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate passed legislation on Tuesday that would allow survivors and relatives of those killed in the Sept. 11 attacks to file lawsuits seeking damages against the government of Saudi Arabia. The legislation, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, passed in the Senate by unanimous voice vote.


If it passes the House of Representatives and is signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama, JASTA would allow lawsuits to proceed in federal court in New York as lawyers try to prove that the Saudis were involved in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Saudis deny any involvement. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Bill Rigby)


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I certainly hope the House of Representatives shows the same resolve the Senate shows. Obama has already threatened to veto such legislation. Maybe there will be enough brave Congressmen that will pass it over the veto.

[Magda Hassan]

This is interesting. Is this a turn around as I recall there was the kybosh put on the original families suing Saudi Arabia after 911? So now it is okay after all?

[Peter Lemkin]

A good lawyer / legal team could get some interesting results just in the discovery phase and expand it beyond S.A. to the USG and other entities perhaps. It sounds too good to be true....someone has something up their sleeve. It has to be passed signed by the President, who currently says he will veto it [change you can believe in, remember!?]. We ain't there yet.

On the BBC they found, not surprisingly, a victim family member who said his family would NOT take advantage of any such law to sue S.A., as they believed 'in their hearts' that those 'hijackers' who were Saudi were acting alone, and had no connections to S.A. as a government. Ha! Bravo BBC - bet MI5/6 found that one for you.

[David Guyatt]

It looks as though Obama will torpedo the Bill. It would not surprise me if he did because all the media stories about the Saudi involvement in 9/11 has a sense of planned theatre about them. I have no idea what the reason is, assuming this actually happens and my sense is right, of course, but the only thing I can come up with is a form of blackmail played out in public. Time will tell.