WASHINGTON (Aug. 15) - Vowing to avenge the murder of their loved ones, relatives of about 900 people killed in the Sept. 11 attacks filed a lawsuit on Thursday against three Saudi princes, several foreign banks and Sudan's government for allegedly funding Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network.
''The terrorists were wrong, but the people who aided and abetted and allowed them to do this are more wrong,'' said Matthew Sellitto, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, whose 23-year-old son died in the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11.
''The banks, so-called charities and the individuals named in this action have the blood of my son on their hands,'' he said, his voice breaking, during a news conference announcing the lawsuit. ''And they have the blood of more than 3,000 other precious, irreplaceable people on their hands. And we will hold them accountable.''
In a civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, relatives of hundreds killed in the attacks and some Sept. 11 survivors accused seven international banks operating mainly in the Middle East, eight Islamic foundations and charities, the government of Sudan and a number of individuals of helping fund terrorist activities.
The lawsuit, filed by individuals from across the United States and at least six other countries, asked for damages exceeding one hundred trillion dollars. The lawyers said they were seeking ''hundreds of billions'' of dollars in damages.
Individuals named in the suit included Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden and several of his relatives, as well as three members of the Saudi royal family: Turki al Faisal al Saud, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al Saud and Mohammed al Faisal al Saud.
The United States has blamed bin Laden and al-Qaida for the Sept. 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people.
Lead attorney Ron Motley, who said intelligence agencies from five countries had helped provide information used in the suit, said the plaintiffs had ''no delusions'' about the case, recognizing that it would be a long struggle to win in court and stop the financing networks.
'THE TRUE ENABLERS OF TERRORISM'
''This civil action seeks to hold those responsible for a more subtle and insidious form of terrorism, that which attempts to hide behind the face of legitimacy,'' the lawsuit said. ''These entities, cloaked in a thin veil of legitimacy, were and are the true enablers of terrorism.''
''The financial resources and support network of these defendants -- charities, banks and individual financiers -- are what allowed the attacks of September 11, 2001, to occur,'' it said. ''Terrorists like Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida network cannot plan, train and act on a massive scale without significant financial power, coordination and backing.''
The banks named in the suit were: Al Baraka Investment and Development Corp., National Commercial Bank, Faisal Islamic Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment, Al Barakaat Exchange LLC, Dar Al Maal Al Islami and Al Shamal Islamic Bank.
Charitable groups named included: the International Islamic Relief Organization, Sanabel Al Kheer Inc., Muslim World League, Saar Foundation, Rabita Trust, Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
''It's up to us to bankrupt the terrorists and those who financed them so they will never again have the resources to commit such atrocities against the American people,'' said Deena Burnett, whose husband Thomas Burnett died on the hijacked airliner that crashed into a Pennsylvania field.
''By filing this lawsuit, this is our only source of retribution, our only source of action to help stop them.''
The 259-page lawsuit alleged that members of the Saudi royal family were implicated in the Sept. 11 attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers who commandeered airplanes on Sept. 11 were Saudi nationals. The lawsuit alleged that Saudi money has ''for years been funneled to encourage radical anti-Americanism as well as to fund the al-Qaida terrorists.''
Saudi Arabia has denied any involvement and repeatedly has said its relations with the United States remained strong. Top Bush administration officials have said publicly that ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia were excellent.
Reuters 18:24 08-15-02
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