Dramatic US vote means 9/11 families WILL be able to sue Saudi Arabia for billions over Twin Towers attacks
THE bereaved families of people killed in the infamous 9/11 terror attacks have won the right to sue Saudi Arabia after a dramatic vote in the US.
Barack Obama used a rare presidential veto to block the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act last week – a law which would allow people to sue foreign nationals.
But Congress dealt the outgoing president a humiliating blow yesterday by voting overwhelmingly to override his veto.
Senators voted by 97 to one to overturn his veto, with the lower house – The House of Representatives – reaching the two-thirds majority needed with 348 votes to 77.
The law means families of 9/11 victims can now sue foreign nationals suspected of involvement in the attacks in US courts.
That includes members of the Saudi Arabian government, after allegations the terrorist attacks had the backing of some figures in Riyadh.
Several cases brought against Saudis in the past have been thrown out by US courts because of immunity granted to foreign nationals under a 1976 law.
Fifteen of the 19 terrorists who carried out the notorious 9/11 attacks were Saudi citizens.
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And a July report on the atrocities pointed to financial ties between Prince Bandar bin Sultan – the long-time Saudi ambassador to the US – and several hijackers.
The report stopped short of providing definitive proof that Riyadh sponsored the operations.
The White House slammed the Senate’s decision to back the move, labelling it the "single most embarrassing thing the Senate has done" in two decades.
Obama had argued the legislation would put American diplomats at risk in Saudi Arabia, as it clamps down on the immunity granted to foreign states and diplomats.
Chuck Schumer, a senior Democratic senator, said: "Overriding a presidential veto is something we don't take lightly.
"But it was important in this case that the families of the victims of 9/11 be allowed to pursue justice."
It is extremely rare for Congress to overturn a presidential veto.
The last time it happened was under George W Bush in 2008.
The passing of Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act comes in the wake of the 15th anniversary of 9/11.
More than 6,000 people were injured and 2,996 were killed when passenger planes were hijacked and crashed into targets including the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
US senator Bob Graham said: “I think it’s implausible to believe that 19 people – most of whom didn’t speak English, most of whom had never been in the United States before, many didn’t have a high school education – could have carried out such a complicated task without some support from within the United States.”
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