Saudi Arabia Rejects Conspiracy Thinking on 9/11

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses once again its strong disappointment at Senator Bob Graham's continued advocacy of the idea that the government of Saudi Arabia bore responsibility for the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Saudi Arabia has long called for the release of the classified 28 pages from the 2002 Congressional Joint Inquiry into 9/11 because we were convinced that they would reveal what they ultimately did reveal: that neither the Saudi government, nor senior Saudi officials, nor any person acting on behalf of the Saudi government provided any support or encouragement for these attacks.

That is also the overwhelming consensus of the American intelligence community and senior U.S. intelligence officials, both those who were active at that time and those who are active today.

In 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded, "We have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization [Al-Qaeda]." In 2005, the CIA investigation that looked into the content of the '28 pages,' clearly stated: "There is no evidence that the Saudi government or members of the Saudi royal family knowingly provided support for the attacks of 11 September 2001 or that they had foreknowledge of terrorist operations in the Kingdom or elsewhere."

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir said in July following the release of the 28 pages, "For 13 years…people like [former] Senator Bob Graham from Florida, who led this inquiry, have said that the 28 pages have damning evidence regarding Saudi Arabia's 'complicity' in 9/11…Meanwhile, the report itself says we don't know if the links are valid. We cannot investigate these things. We can't come to conclusions. And when the appropriate agencies—the 9/11 commission and the FBI and CIA—investigated those leads and came out with conclusions that say there's no 'there' there, he [Sen. Graham] continued to mislead the public…"

Saudi Arabia has always pledged that it will track down any lead, follow any bit of credible information, and pursue any individual who may have been involved or complicit in the attacks. That pledge stands. Our cooperation with the United States in combatting terror is close, strong and well-established, as is our friendship, which has endured for more than 80 years.

SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office