November 16, 2003	Sunday	Ramazan 20, 1424

WASHINGTON, Nov 15: A US judge has dismissed claims against two high-ranking Saudi officials in a lawsuit filed by victims and survivors of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks.

In an opinion issued on Friday, Judge James Robertson of the court for the District of Columbia said US courts had no jurisdiction to rule on the actions of Prince Turki al Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, director of Saudi Arabia’s Department of General Intelligence, and Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al Saud, who is Saudi Arabia’s defence minister and holds other positions as well.

In the lawsuit filed by the Sept 11 victims and relatives of victims, Prince Turki was accused of having an “ongoing relationship” with Osama bin Laden. Prince Turki is also accused of transferring money to support the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Prince Sultan was accused of supporting charities that give money to Al Qaeda.

“The claims against them for acts allegedly done in their official capacities will be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. —Reuters