Saudi says welcomes release of 9/11 Congress report

Saudi Arabia has said it has welcomed the release of the confidential pages of the Congress report on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The previously classified pages of the report, released on Friday, showed there had been no official Saudi role in the attacks, which left almost 3,000 people dead.

US officials and victims’ families had alleged high-level Saudi involvement and called for the publication of the pages. Up to 15 of the 19 hijackers who led the 9/11 attacks were Saudi nationals.

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Saudi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Adel bin Ahmed Al Jubeir said: “The kingdom has called for the release of these pages from the moment they were blocked. And we believe since that time the kingdom cannot respond to charges issued in blank pages.

“We said in the clearest possible terms that there is nothing for the kingdom to fear, and it is determined to pursue terrorists and those who finance them or justify their actions.”

The minister also stressed that the country had undertaken several steps to confront terrorism.

“We have put financial control mechanisms unmatched in any other country. We have closed institutions used to collect donations to support extremist issues and terrorism,” he said.

“Laws have been enacted to criminalise the financing of terrorism, a number of persons have been tried. Many of those involved in supporting terrorism have been imprisoned. And we have put the best systems to follow up the transfer of cash money.”

Saudi Arabia is also engaged in fighting terrorists in places like Yemen and Syria, he added.

“The kingdom has suffered greatly from terrorists and they have attacked our country many times. Many security officials have sacrificed their lives in defence of their people and many citizens have been killed. We have taken very strong measures against terrorists and extremists,” Al Jubeir said.

He also emphasised that terrorism currently threatens the whole world.

“It can take various forms, images, and ideologies, but in the end, it kills innocent people, and this is unacceptable in the Islamic religion. They [the terrorists] have no state and they are not Muslims. They are psychopaths, deviants and criminals. They have no sense of humanity and their goal is to destroy the world and destabilise the kingdom,” he said.

“There is no justification for terrorism. We take the threat of terrorism seriously and we are working strongly to confront it. Our determination or commitment will not stop in fighting the scourge of terrorism.”