NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia has asked a New York federal judge to dismiss 25 lawsuits filed against it in relation to its alleged support of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, court documents filed on Monday say.

Lawyers representing Saudi Arabia claim the plaintiffs — who represent thousands of victims who died and were injured in the attacks as well as businesses and insurers — cannot prove the Saudi kingdom supported the Al Qaeda-affiliated men who hijacked and crashed planes into New York’s World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, a Military and Defence news and The New Arab newspaper said. Saudi Arabia also claimed it deserves sovereign immunity.

James Kreindler, a lawyer representing those killed in the Sept 11 attacks, said the filing was “expected … We have tonnes of allegations of what many Saudis and the country’s alter ego charities did. Saudi Arabia cannot hide from the facts”, Al Jazeera reported.

In Sept 2015, US District Judge George Daniels, who oversees the litigation, had dismissed claims by victims’ families.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2017