Posted on 11/17/2003 4:47:04 AM PST by ganeshpuri89
Saudi Arabia's defense minister and its former intelligence chief, who have denied allegations in a US$1 trillion lawsuit tying them to the Sept. 11 attacks, are beyond the reach of US courts, a federal judge ruled.
The suit filed by victims and survivors of the 2001 attacks accused the Saudis of having long, personal relationships with Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden and officials of the Afghan Taliban militia.
The officials are the defense minister, Prince Sultan, and Prince Turki al-Faisal, former director of general intelligence and now the Saudi ambassador in Britain.
The suit also alleged that Prince Sultan had donated millions of dollars to Saudi charities that subsequently forwarded the money to bin Laden's al-Qaeda network and other terrorist organizations.
In an order issued Friday, US District Judge James Robertson ruled that his court lacked jurisdiction under both international and US law and dismissed all claims against the two Saudi officials.
Both men had claimed foreign sovereign immunity, which protects sovereign governments from such suits. Robertson's order said a 1976 US law that limits sovereign immunity under certain circumstances also did not apply to them. He said both princes vehemently denied the allegations, but his ruling did not deal with whether they were true.
In July, Robertson denied petitions to dismiss claims against defendant Soliman Khudeira, a Saudi bank and two Muslim charities.
The suit, filed in August last year in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks US$1 trillion in damages for survivors of more than 900 victims of the terror attacks in New York and Washington and other injured firefighters and rescue workers.
The complaint names more than seven dozen defendants, including the government of Sudan, seven banks and eight Islamic foundations.
Lawyers said a primary purpose of the suit was to choke off terrorists' financial resources.
WHO'S WHO OF THE DEFENDANTS IN THE SEPT. 11 LAWSUIT
Osama bin Laden and other members of al-Qaida: Bin Laden, the Saudi-born construction company heir, founded al-Qaida. The lawsuit also identifies key al-Qaida lieutenants, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, both of whom have been arrested, and the 19 hijackers.
Government of Sudan: In 1991, Osama bin Laden moved to Khartoum, Sudan, where he established a business empire and recruited terrorists. The lawsuit alleges that Sudan helped al-Qaida by hiring bin Laden's construction company, al-Hirah Construction and Development Ltd., to build roads and do other government work.
Prince Turki al-Faisal: Prince Turki ran Saudi Arabia's Department of General Intelligence from 1977 to 2001. "As such, he was in a position to know the threat posed by bin Laden, al-Qaida, the Taliban, and the extremist and violent perversion of jihad and hatred that the Saudi religious schools were fomenting in young people," the lawsuit alleges.
Prince Turki allegedly met with Osama bin Laden at least five times in Pakistan and Afghanistan during the mid-'80s to mid-'90s. Prince Turki "decided to give massive financial and material support to the Taliban," the suit alleges.
In response, Prince Turki's lawyers said, "No defendant has been more unfairly tarred by this libel than Prince Turki, who spent his many years as director of intelligence in the Saudi government working closely with the United States to combat terrorism in general and Osama bin Laden in particular." In a statement, Prince Turki denied helping al-Qaida in any way. His lawyers argue that because he was a Saudi government official, he is immune from the lawsuit.
Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz: Prince Sultan is Saudi Arabia's third-ranking leader, holding the titles of deputy prime minister, minister of defense and aviation and inspector general.
The lawsuit alleges that Prince Sultan "took radical stands against western countries and publicly supported and funded several Islamic charities that were sponsoring Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida operations, including the International Islamic Relief Organization, Muslim World League, World Assembly of Muslim Youth and Al-Haramain."
Like Prince Turki, Prince Sultan is one of the few defendants to file formal responses to the lawsuit. His lawyers called the lawsuit a "broadside indictment of Saudi government, religion and culture" and argued that it should be dismissed. The brief acknowledges that Prince Sultan oversaw agencies that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to Islamic charities, but that because this was done under the government's umbrella, he is immune from any legal claims.
Muhammed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi: The lawsuit alleges that Zouaydi, a former accountant for Prince Abdullah al Faisal, set up companies in Spain to funnel money to Abdul Fattah Zammar and Mamoun Darkazanli in Germany. Zammar and Darkazanli maintained the bank accounts of hijacker Mohamed Atta and other members of the Hamburg al-Qaida cell.
The lawsuit alleges that Zouaydi also set up a company with Abdullah al Turki, adviser to Saudi King Fahd and secretary general of the Muslim World League. Zouaydi was arrested in Spain on terrorism charges. Zouaydi's attorney in Spain has told reporters his client was not connected to al-Qaida.
Muslim World League: Founded in 1962 to promote Islamic unity, the Muslim World League is a large Muslim charity. The lawsuit alleges that the group diverted funds to al-Qaida. It says that the group's secretary general, Abdullah al Turki, was a business partner with Muhammed Zouaydi, an al-Qaida suspect in Spain.
In a motion, Muslim World League questioned whether al-Qaida was behind Sept. 11, and that victims of the attack have attorneys who are "not seeking to alleviate their grief and suffering" and are "not after the truth of the events leading up to the ... attacks." Instead, the group said, "their attorneys have joined the bandwagon of discrimination towards legitimate Islamic entities and individuals."
It also said that the United States was not the proper place to file a lawsuit, suggesting that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia were more appropriate. The plaintiffs' "only benefit" to filing the suit in America "is solely for plaintiffs' attorneys as a source of good advertisement."
Benevolence International Foundation: The lawsuit alleges that this Illinois-based charity was founded by a wealthy Saudi Arabian national named Adel Abdul Jalil Batterjee, who had connections to al-Qaida. Batterjee later transferred control of the organization to Enaam M. Arnaout, who recently pleaded guilty to a charge of supporting Chechen insurgents. Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the group supplied funds and materials to al-Qaida.
Al Haramain Islamic Foundation: Noting that the State Department has designated two of al Haramain's branches in Bosnia and Somalia as terrorist entities, the lawsuit alleges that the group's leaders have direct links to al-Qaida. It also alleges that during an interrogation by U.S. authorities, Omar al-Faruq, a senior al-Qaida operative in Southern Asia, confessed that al Haramain was the main mechanism for funding terrorists in the region.
In its response, Al Haramain called the charges "spurious" and denied that it supports terrorists. In one motion, the foundation said it offered to open its books to the victims' lawyers.
More importantly, who was the judge, and which president appointed him/her.
I'm sure many of these Saudi's have assets in the US, which are certainly NOT "out of reach".
Sovereign immunity is a pretty powerful doctrine- historically, it has prevented foreign officials from being sued in the US. It's a two-way street- it keeps pesky foreigners from suing the President or other US officials for their actions.
Interestingly, the Constitution specifically grants the US Supreme Court original jurisdiction over cases involving ambassadors.
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