Sept. 11 lawsuit: Suing the Saudis

Solicitor General is asked to weigh in on 9/11 suit

Feb. 24, 2009: The request from the U.S. Supreme Court may indicate a close hearing. Read the article

High court is urged to block 9/11 suit against Saudis

May 29, 2009: In a setback for insurers and individual victims of the 9/11 attacks, U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan urged the Supreme Court yesterday to reject allegations that Saudi Arabia was responsible because it indirectly financed al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Read the article

The 9/11 suit against the Saudis, and politics

June 9, 2009: The case is likely to reach a critical juncture this month when the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear arguments on Saudi Arabia's legal exposure. Read the Law Review column

Phila. firm files brief on behalf of 9/11 victims

June 11, 2009: In a stinging rebuke to the Obama administration, lawyers representing victims of the 9/11 attacks accuse the government of trying to "appease" Saudi Arabia by urging the Supreme Court not to hear arguments that the kingdom could be sued for its alleged role in funding the attackers. Read the article

More Saudi ties

June 26, 2009: A Defense Department intelligence document on weapons trafficking in Somalia suggests a prominent Saudi government charity supplied arms and other aid to a Mogadishu warlord whose forces killed 18 U.S. soldiers in the notorious Black Hawk Down battle in 1993. Read the article

Timeline: Evolution of the Lawsuit

The liability case Cozen O’Connor has brought against the Saudi government and other defendants on behalf of U.S. and global insurance companies is the biggest and most complex the firm has ever filed.

This time line draws on events that arise from the 9/11 attacks. View the timeline (.pdf)

The lawsuit
An epic lawsuit filed by Philadelphia firm Cozen O'Connor looks to place direct blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a host of individuals, banks and groups so that it can recover billions of dollars in damages.

The following public portions of the lawsuit are in the form of .pdfs, and vary in length from 12 to 61 pages. There is some overlap, in instances where a section ended in the middle of the page; the excerpt that follows picks up on that same page.


1. The list of plaintiffs and defendants. Read the document

2. Background on the actions leading to the lawsuit, and beginning of the allegations against each defendant. Read the document

3. More background on the actions leading to the lawsuit. This section presents allegations against the defendant banks and other financial institutions. Read the document

4. More background. This section sets out allegations against parties accused of having business ties to al-Qaeda.  Read the document

5. Sets out the injuries to the plaintiffs - the insurance companies - in the form of payments made for property, business and workers' compensation claims. Read the document

6. Sets out the counts of the illegalities alleged in the lawsuit: trespass, wrongful death, survival action, assault and battery, infliction of emotional distress, torture, conspiracy, racketeering, aiding and abetting, international terrorism and negligence, and calls for punitive damages. Read the document

7. In this section, additional plaintiffs - insurance companies - are added to the suit. Read the document

8. This begins a long passage in which  the plaintiffs set out accusations under RICO - the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was enacted in 1970 to combat organized crime. Read the document

9. This passage continues the assertions of violations under the RICO act. Read the document

10. This passage continues the assertions of violations under the RICO act. Read the document

11. This section contains allegations that a number of Islamist groups had ties to al-Qaeda, and also describes what it calls al-Qaeda's objectives and tactics. It also asserts that several of these groups have Saudi ties. Further, it quotes a passage from what it says is a guide to Islamic youth camps, containing a suggestion that youths attending the camps be led in this refrain:

"Hail! Hail! O Sacrificing Soldiers! To Us! To Us!
So we may defend the flag on this Day of Jihad, are you miserly
with your blood?!
And has life become dearer to you? And staying behind sweeter?
Is staying in this world of torment more pleasing to us?
Read the document

12. This passage continues asserting ties between various Islamist groups and al-Qaeda, including allegations that money was funneled into Bosnia, and draws ties between a Saudi-funded group and the 1998 United States Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. Read the document

13. This continues setting out accusations linking al-Qaeda and Islamic groups and individuals, including assertions that a poultry processor in Georgia donated $1.1 million, or 99 percent of its 1998 profits, to a group that was funding al-Qaeda. Read the document

14. This segment asserts RICO violations against various banks and other financial institutions that the plaintiffs say had ties to al-Qaeda, through such actions as providing accounts and money-laundering. Read the document

15. This portion continues the plaintiffs' descriptions of ties that they assert exist between various banks and other financial institutions helping al-Qaeda. Read the document

16. This portion includes a reference to a "Golden Chain" document listing wealthy backers of al-Qaeda. The document was found on a computer hard drive seized during a raid, by the FBI and Bosnian police, of Bosnian offices of a group linked to a U.S. nonprofit. Read the document

17. This portion directly accuses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and/or its various charities, of supporting terrorism that led to the 9/11 attack The accusations spelled out include conspiracy to commit murder, mail and wire fraud, filing false tax returns, and unlawful reproduction and procurement of naturalization or citizenship papers. Also in this portion, five Saudi princes are accused of  participating in  illegalities by supporting groups linked to terrorism. Read the document

18. This portion includes a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department that makes reference to a "complex land transaction" in Illinois used to launder money  that made its way, in part, to the head of Hamas' military wing. Read the document

19. This final passage includes a description of the International Islamic Relief Organization, which was founded by Saudi royal decree, and details a web of activities including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a plot to
destroy the Lincoln Tunnel and Brooklyn Bridge, a plot to assassinate former President Bill Clinton and then-Pope John Paul II, and a plot to blow up 12 American commercial airplanes simultaneously. Read the document


Additional documents associated with the lawsuit

A 2007 filing in a U.S. appellate court outlines the case brought on behalf of insurance companies against  Saudi Arabia and its leaders, alleging that they supported the terrorists who staged the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Read the brief filed  with the appeals court (.pdf)

The appeals brief for Saudi Arabia, in which the kingdom denies allegations that it was responsible for the 9/11 attacks.   Read the brief

An appellate brief for the Saudi High Commission for Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Saudi government charity set up to aid Muslim refugees during the Balkans War. In the brief, the commission says it was falsely accused of funding al-Qaeda. Read the appellate brief

Prince Turki, a Saudi royal, was accused of assisting al-Qaeda in his role as head of Saudi intelligence. In this appellate brief, he denies that he had anything to do with the 9/11 attacks and argues that Saudi Arabia itself has been the victim of terrorism. Read the appellate brief

Appeals brief of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan, Prince Naif and Prince Salman, presenting their argument for why they should not be defendants in the lawsuit. This is their denial of allegations that they were at least partly to blame for the 9/11 attacks. Read the appellate brief

An Aug. 4, 2006, statement from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Washington in reaction to the U.S. government's tying the International Islamic Relief Organization to terrorist organizations. Read the statement