Saudi Foreign Minister: '28 Pages' Were Misleading

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- During an appearance on CNN, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir addressed the recent release of the '28 pages' that had been redacted from the 2002 Congressional Joint Inquiry.  "The only surprise in the '28 pages' is that there was no surprise," said Minister Al-Jubeir. The Foreign Minister highlighted the fact that while many who have pointed to the '28 pages' for more than a decade as proof of Saudi government involvement in 9-11, the report in fact states that no conclusions were reached nor was the Joint Inquiry in a position to make such claims.

The report states: "It should be clear that this Joint Inquiry has made no final determination as to the reliability or sufficiency of the information regarding these issues that we found contained in FBI and CIA documents. It was not the task of this Joint Inquiry to conduct the kind of extensive investigation that would be required to determine the true significance of any such alleged connections to the Saudi government."

According to Minister Al-Jubeir, "For 13 years, people like (former) Senator Bob Graham from Florida have said that the 28 pages have damning evidence regarding Saudi Arabia's complicity in 9/11. Meanwhile the report says we don't know if the links are valid. We cannot investigate these things. We can't come to conclusions." Minister Al-Jubeir further said, "And when the appropriate agencies, the 9/11 Commission and the FBI and CIA investigated those leads and came out with their conclusions they said that 'there's no there there.' Yet, these people continued to mislead the public for 13 years."

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."

Earlier, Minister Al-Jubeir said, "It is time to close this chapter and move on to strengthen efforts to defeat the terrorists who are threating your people and ours."

SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office

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