A US judge has dismissed Saudi Arabia's bid to dismiss lawsuits alleging that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) helped finance Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda leading up to the September, 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. US District Judge George Daniels in Manhattan said the plaintiffs’ allegations “narrowly articulate a reasonable basis” for him to assert jurisdiction over Saudi Arabia under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), a 2016 federal law. Saudi Arabia had long had broad immunity from September 11 lawsuits in the United States, before the US Congress in September 2016 overrode a veto by President Barack Obama to allow such cases to proceed. The Saudi government has long denied involvement in the attacks, in which hijacked airplanes crashed into New York's World Trade Center, a Pennsylvania field and the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. causing the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. Read more: 9/11 and the global consequences

"We're delighted that Judge Daniels denied Saudi Arabia's motion to dismiss," said James Kreindler, a lawyer for many of the plaintiffs, in a phone interview. The 9/11 Commission report found “no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded” the attacks al-Qaida masterminded, but the commission also noted “the likelihood” that Saudi government-sponsored charities did. The judge also dismissed claims that two Saudi banks, National Commercial Bank and Al Rajhi Bank, and Saudi Binladin Group, a construction company controlled by the bin Laden family, provided funds and financial services for the attacks, saying he lacked jurisdiction.
U.S. District judge George B. Daniels of the District Court for the Southern District of New York has rejected the government of Saudi Arabia’s request to throw out lawsuits claiming the nation helped plan the September 11 attacks.