Saudis welcome 9/11 report

On Sunday, all groups of Saudi society welcomed the release of 28 classified pages of the official report on the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States with the White House maintaining their stance that “there is no evidence of any Saudi role in the attack.”

The 28 page-document submitted to the Congressional Inquiry was at the center of attention for quite some time with the fact finding team confirming that the Kingdom had no link with the attacks.
In Washington, Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir tweeted, “Saudi Arabia welcomes the release of the 28-page report about the 9/11 attacks, and the time has come to end these rumors and conspiracies.”
He continued: “The 28 pages were reviewed at the highest levels of US intelligence. The facts are clear: The Saudi government played no role in 9/11. Now that the declassification is complete, we hope to continue our close cooperation with the US in the fight against terrorism.”
“Since 9/11, the Kingdom has embarked on a series of major steps to confront the men, money and mindset that foments terrorism. We have put in place an unprecedented financial control system to stop the funding of extremist causes and terrorism.”
“We have put in place an unprecedented financial control system to stop the funding of extremist causes and terrorism. Terrorism has no religion, it has no nationality, it has no ethnicity, it has no humanity. It is incumbent upon all of us to do everything in our power to defeat terrorism.”
Welcoming the fact finding report, Salman Al-Ansari, founder and president of the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC) told Arab News: “This finding was expected by the Saudi intellectual spectrum. We knew that we had no role and now we know officially that we have no guilt to worry about.”
“We have been the victims of terrorism before anything else; we have faced more than 30 terror attacks by Al-Qaeda, and Saudi Arabia is fighting terrorism domestically and internationally,” he added.
“I know for a fact that these 28 classified pages are full of accusations, allegations and speculations, but none against Saudi Arabia have been made to link it with the 9/11 terror attack,” the SAPRAC head said, adding that these classified pages released Friday contained no evidence of any role played by the Kingdom in terror the plot.
“It has changed hypothetical views of many speculators who were making wild allegations that the Kingdom had a link with 9/11,” he pointed out, adding that it helped clear the air on all of the confusions created and will put a stop to all speculations by silencing those trying to “harm the harmony”. “Saudi Arabia and the US have been and will continue to be strong allies working closely to combat terrorism,” he underlined.
Hailing the report, Dr. Majed Abdullah Alhedayan, a senior columnist and legal consultant specialising in foreign investment, said that the report is reflective of the honesty applied in the investigation procedure. “These 28 pages were reviewed at the highest levels of the US intelligence and the facts have come out in public that the Kingdom played no role in 9/11. This finding will clear up, once and for all, any suspicion with regard to Saudi Arabia and will change the perception of many Americans about Saudi society.”
“It will also encourage the public and private sectors from both countries to move forward with better coordination. Now that the declassification is complete, we hope to continue our close cooperation with the US and many other western countries in various areas including visa problems formerly faced by Saudis.”
Talal Al-Otaibi, a media consultant in the Kingdom, said: “It only confirms what we have been saying for all these years.”
“Now US Congress and political analysts are calling for an end to all theories that accuse Saudi Arabia of involvement in the 9/11 attacks.”

Source: Arab News