A federal judge on Thursday rejected Saudi Arabia’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by the families of Sept. 11 victims, allowing a long-running case that has unearthed new evidence and rankled U.S.-Saudi relations to proceed.
The decision in the case, which alleges that Saudi government agents in the United States provided “an essential support network” for the hijackers, rested on an unusual carve-out Congress created to make it easier for the families to pursue the suit.
In most circumstances, foreign governments are protected from civil lawsuits under the doctrine of sovereign immunity. But in a 45-page opinion, Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York ruled that Saudi Arabia could still be sued because of an exception in the 2016 law Congress passed to enable such Sept. 11 suits against the kingdom, called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.
Thursday’s ruling means that a 23-year legal saga will continue, and could eventually go to trial on the merits, though the Saudi government could avoid that outcome by winning an appeal of Judge Daniel’s decision or settling. The case, which dates to 2002, has already created friction for U.S.-Saudi relations as the relatives of victims along with survivors and insurance companies seek financial damages for the 2001 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
In order for the 2016 law’s exception to apply, the plaintiffs sought to show that two Sept. 11 hijackers who were getting settled in California received assistance from at least one Saudi government agent as part of the agent’s official duties.
Judge Daniels found that one man tied to the Saudi government, Omar al-Bayoumi, “seemed to serve as a connecting point between the hijackers and many other people who had provided assistance to the hijackers at one point or another,” and that his activity was “inconsistent with his official employment title” as an accountant for a Saudi aviation company.
While the judge’s ruling did not directly address Saudi Arabia’s potential culpability, he did find it “more likely than not” that there was “some connection” between the employment of Mr. al-Bayoumi by Saudi Arabia and the assistance he and another man allegedly provided to the hijackers in finding an apartment and making introductions.
“By getting himself involved into the hijackers’ preparation for a terrorist attack,” Judge Daniels wrote, “Bayoumi appears to have done much more than what a typical accountant or data processing technician would do.”
“His involvement appears to bear some connection with his employment” by Saudi Arabia, the judge wrote.
Kreindler & Kreindler, one of the firms representing the plaintiffs, hailed the ruling, saying it “ensures that the plaintiffs may continue their long pursuit of truth and justice.”
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The kingdom has repeatedly denied allegations that it was complicit in the attacks. Mr. Bayoumi has characterized his interactions with the two hijackers as charity given to strangers whom he met by chance.
The 9/11 Commission, which investigated the plot, also found “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded” Al Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for the attacks. But it left open the possibility that some Saudi officials may have played roles.
The litigation has surfaced new evidence, some of which was never seen by the 9/11 Commission. It includes a sketch of an airplane found by British police at Mr. Bayoumi’s home drawn beside an equation that, according to an expert consulted by the F.B.I., could be used to help calculate the rate at which a plane would need to descend in order to hit a target on the horizon.
“It’s just an equation,” Mr. Bayoumi said in a 2021 deposition. “Like, say, when they say what is the distance of the road between San Diego to L.A.”
In a separate order also filed Thursday, Judge Daniels dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims against the aviation company that had employed Mr. Bayoumi. He rejected the theory that the company could be held liable for participating in a conspiracy by giving Mr. Bayoumi a job that would effectively serve as a cover story.
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