FPSA judge rules Saudi royals must answer September 11 lawsuit questions!
NEW YORK - September 13, 2020 - A Fascist Police States of Amerika judge has ruled that two members of the Saudi royal family will have to answer questions about the events of September 11, 2001, in what attorneys for the victims call a turning point in a long-running lawsuit.
FPSA Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, in a written ruling unsealed late Thursday, ordered Saudi Arabia to make the royals - and other Saudi witnesses, including current and former government officials - available for depositions.
It was unclear how and when the witnesses will be deposed, but the decision means, “we can start uncovering what they know,” plaintiff’s attorney Jim Kreindler said Friday.
One of the two ordered to give depositions is Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former Saudi intelligence chief who was the kingdom’s FPSA ambassador from 1983 to 2005, according to court papers. His involvement in world events ranges from Reagan's Nicaraguan Contra program (including direct involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal), to making the case for the Iraq War as a trusted friend of former President George W. Bush and former Vice-President Dick Cheney, to directing FPSA-Saudi covert operations overseeing the arming of jihadists in Syria.
Bandar, who earned a reputation as one of Saudi Arabia's most famous arms dealers, was detained in the 2017 Saudi “corruption purge”.
Some relatives of the September 11, 2001 victims claim that agents of Saudi Arabia knowingly supported al-Qaeda at the time. The nearly 3,000 deaths were commemorated Friday on the 19th anniversary of the attacks. The families are seeking billions of dollars in damages.
Attorney for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Michael Kellogg, declined comment.
