Release of the Secret 9/11 Report; Saudi Arabia Considers the Case Closed

Following the release of the secret report known as the "28 pages" regarding the possible connection of the 9/11 incident with the Saudi government, the Saudi Foreign Minister commented that this report exonerates his country. After years of conflict between the U.S. government and Congress, the House Intelligence Committee of the United States published the 28 pages of the report related to the potential connection of the Saudi government with the 9/11 hijackers on Friday, July 15. According to Reuters, this report contains information about "potential links" of some hijackers with certain Saudi officials, but "none of these links have been independently verified." The report states: "According to several documents and evidence in the FBI and CIA reports, some of the 9/11 hijackers apparently had contact with individuals who may have been connected to the Saudi government while residing in the U.S." However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the U.S. stated that the agreement to release this report does not imply "consensus among the intelligence community on the accuracy" of the report; in other words, the accuracy and correctness of the information in this report cannot be assured. On the other hand, the British newspaper The Guardian points out that the release of these 28 pages after 13 years of secrecy will not necessarily end speculation about Saudi Arabia's role in 9/11. Although Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the New York terrorist incident, came from a family close to the Saudi government and 15 of the 19 perpetrators of these attacks were Saudi nationals, Saudi officials have consistently denied any involvement in this terrorist incident since the events of September 11, 2001, which resulted in the deaths of over three thousand people. The special commission investigating this event, which was formed immediately afterward, ultimately stated in its report that "there is no evidence or documentation" indicating investment in al-Qaeda by the Saudi government or senior officials of this country. However, a study conducted in 2002 in the U.S. Congress mentioned "evidence" suggesting that some "Saudi officials residing in the United States in 2001" were involved in the conspiracy to attack the Twin Towers in Manhattan. However, Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, told reporters on Friday, before the release of these 28 pages, that this report contains no documents or evidence of Saudi Arabia's involvement and participation. Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Foreign Minister, also reacted to the release of this report on Friday night, stating to reporters that "the matter is now closed." He added that this report shows that the Saudi government is completely exonerated from the accusation of involvement in the 9/11 incident. This comes as a member of the U.S. Congressional Commission investigating this incident previously spoke of "clear evidence" regarding the involvement of individuals connected to the Saudi government. According to The Guardian, John F. Lehman, a Republican member and former member of the 9/11 Congressional Commission, stated in an interview that there is "clear evidence" that individuals from the Saudi government were part of the network supporting the hijackers on September 11. In his revealing interview, Lehman said: "Saudi individuals were heavily involved in supporting the hijackers, and some of these individuals worked for the Saudi government." However, Mr. Lehman added that he does not believe that "the Saudi royal family or senior officials of this government played a role in supporting al-Qaeda or the 9/11 conspiracy." As reported by Reuters on Saturday, several lines and sentences from the "28 pages" report released on Friday were redacted "to protect intelligence sources and methods."