(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Saudi Arabia’s involvement in 9/11 has been public information for decades, with numerous sources documenting how Saudi officials Fahad al-Thumairy and Omar al-Bayoumi allegedly assisted at least two of the hijackers ahead of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
But were Thumairy and Bayoumi rogue criminal religious zealots, or were they operating under the direction of the Saudi Arabian government?
A bombshell court filing in a long-running 9/11 lawsuit makes the case for the latter argument. Families of 9/11 victims argued in a 71-page brief filed on May 7 that Thumairy and Bayoumi operated under the directions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
This report in The Atlantic, credibly alleging that 9/11 was a conspiracy run out of the Saudi embassy, is especially alarming considering that the Saudi ambassador at the time was Bandar bin Sultan, a/k/a "Bandar Bush" for his close ties to both Bush presidents. https://t.co/JSfmcl6RMl pic.twitter.com/YJm0PmGlAd
— Seth Harp (@sethharpesq) May 20, 2024
“The evidence is clear that Saudi Arabia deployed its officials and agents to serve in an illegal government enterprise that was extensively intertwined with terrorism, so that the agents were acting within their core mission when they helped integrate the hijackers into the United States,” plaintiffs said in their May 7 brief, which is in response to Saudi Arabia’s motion to dismiss.
“The evidence also shows that Bayoumi and Thumairy acted at all times in accordance with the directives of more senior Saudi officials, which separately establishes that they were acting within the scope of their agencies and employment.”
The 71-page, partially redacted court filing compiles evidence that has been trickling out over the last several years about Saudi’s involvement in 9/11. That includes a 2017 FBI report that said Bayoumi was operating directly under then Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan Alsaud—a close friend of the Bush family.
“Omar Albayoumi was paid a monthly stipend as a cooptee of the Saudi General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) via then Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan Alsaud,” said the FBI report, which is quoted in the May 7 filing.
“Allegations of Albayoumi’s involvement with Saudi intelligence were not confirmed at the time of the 9/ 11 Commission Report. The above information confirms these allegations.”
Saudi Arabia, for its part, continues to deny any involvement in 9/11.
Meanwhile, new evidence in recent years has suggested that not only was Albayoumi a Saudi agent working for Bandar—he was also an asset of the CIA, which was, of course, once headed by George H.W. Bush. That information has been coming from the proceedings against 9/11 defendants at Guantanamo Bay.
According to Office of Military Commissions investigator Don Canestraro, at least two FBI agents told him that the CIA had attempted to recruit two of the hijackers as informants. The CIA was directing its recruiting efforts through Bayoumi, according to Canestraro.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.
