9/11 Families Can Sue Saudi Arabia, Judge Rules - East Idaho News
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9/11 Families Can Sue Saudi Arabia, Judge Rules

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Getty 122013 911TwinTowers?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1387560031111Robert Giroux/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Relatives of 9/11 victims can sue the country where most of the hijackers were born, a federal appeals court in New York has ruled.

The ruling, issued Thursday, struck down an earlier decision that found Saudi Arabia immune from lawsuits. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it’s in the “interests of justice” to allow them to proceed.

Families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11 attacks and insurers who lost billions of dollars covering damaged businesses have alleged Saudi Arabia bankrolled al-Qaeda, knowing the money would be used for terrorism.

The lawsuit, filed a decade ago by the Philadelphia firm Cozen O’Connor, accuses the Saudi government and members of the royal family of serving on charities that financed al-Qaeda operations.

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