A federal appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday on whether Saudi Arabia can dodge a lawsuit alleging it aided the 9/11 hijackers — as relatives of New Yorkers killed in the attacks intently watch.
More than 25 years after the deadly terror attacks, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan is considering a lower court judge’s bombshell August 2025 ruling leaving Riyadh potentially on the hook for damages in the long-delayed civil case.
Appeals court judges Guido Calabresi, William Nardini and Eunice Lee will hear from lawyers for both Saudi Arabia and the 9/11 victims’ families.
The families have dug up “reasonable evidence” that the Saudi government — which continues to deny playing any role in the attacks on 9/11 — ran a support network for the hijackers, US District Court Judge George Daniels found.
A potential juror could make “a reasonable inference” that Omar al-Bayoumi, a shadowy Saudi national who helped secure California lodging for a pair of American Airlines Flight 77 hijackers, had coordinated with the Saudi government, the judge ruled.
Al-Bayoumi, a suspected Saudi spy, once hosted a “welcome party” for two hijackers, had flight calculations that could be used to fly a plane into targets and at one point was seen in a chilling video “casing” the US Capitol building, according to court filings.
Saudi officials are appealing Daniels’ decision, and are expected Wednesday to rehash claims that Riyadh is immune from facing trial in a US court because it is a sovereign state.
Those claims have left 9/11 victims’ families fuming.
“The Kingdom continues to lie in court and deny any culpability, when the evidence shows that their agents were directly involved in the attacks,” said Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United, whose husband Tom, a bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, was killed in the north tower.
The 9/11 families’ long-running lawsuit, first filed in 2004, contends a group of religious extremists gained influence in Saudi Arabia’s government and provided aid to the hijackers.
“Saudi Arabia is a supposed ally and a friend of ours. Friends don’t treat friends like that,” added Brett Eagleson, whose father, Bruce, was killed on 9/11.
In total, 2,977 civilians were murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, when 19 al Qaeda terrorists — 15 of whom were Saudi citizens — hijacked four airliners and crashed them into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a crash site in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The terror group’s leader, Osama bin Laden, was a member of one of the kingdom’s wealthiest families, although the Saudis yanked his citizenship after he became a vocal critic of both the US and Riyadh.
After years of twists and turns — including an act of Congress making it easier for 9/11 victims’ families to sue countries accused of sponsoring terrorism — the case consolidated other suits and sharpened accusations that Saudi officials teamed up with the hijackers who came to the US in early 2000.
Oral arguments are expected to last around 45 minutes Wednesday. The court is then expected to rule in writing on a future date.
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