Around 1,700 relatives and survivors of the 9/11 attacks are asking President Joe Biden to stay away from the commemoration of the 20th anniversary.
—
In a letter to the president, they write that he should only be allowed to be present at the 20th anniversary celebration if he releases documents that they claim show that Saudi leaders supported the terrorist attacks. It reports Reuters.
– 20 years later, there is simply no reason to keep this information secret, they write in the letter.
“But if President Biden breaks his commitment and sided with the Saudi government, we will be forced to publicly distance ourselves from any participation by his administration in any commemoration of 9/11,” they wrote.
The Saudi embassy in Washington has not responded to Reuters’ requests to comment on the matter.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki says Biden is still committed to fulfilling the promise he made as a presidential candidate of “constructive cooperation to resolve outstanding issues related to previous administrations’ state secrecy privilege.”
The White House has had several meetings with relatives’ families, she adds.
Relatives and survivors have long sought to obtain documents that could show whether Saudi Arabia assisted or financed any of the 19 people linked to al-Qaeda’s attacks. 15 of the 19 came from Saudi Arabia.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. Relatives, survivors, businesses and insurance companies have sued Saudi Arabia for billions.
–
