The Bureau of Investigation released the first declassified document on 9/11
The FBI on Saturday released a recently declassified document relating to its investigation into the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
The document redacted 16-page released by the FBI on the 20th anniversary of the attacks details contacts between the hijackers and several Saudi officials but did not conclude whether the government in Riyadh was complicit in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.
Earlier this month, Biden ordered the Justice Department to review documents from the FBI's investigation into the attacks for declassification and release them.
Relatives of the victims have been pressing for years for more information about what the FBI found in its investigation and claimed that the documents would show Saudi authorities supported the plot. There are 15 of the 19 hijackers from Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has long said it had no role in the attacks. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment sent late on Saturday night.
A US government commission in 2004 found no evidence that Saudi Arabia directly funded al-Qaeda, the group the Taliban had given sanctuary in Afghanistan at the time.
In the attacks, the families of nearly 2,500 people were killed, more than 20,000 people were injured, and various companies and insurance companies sued Saudi Arabia for billions of dollars.
On September 8, the embassy said that Saudi Arabia has consistently called for transparency about the events of September 11, 2001, and welcomes the release of confidential documents related to the attacks by the United States.
"As previous investigations, including the September 11 commission and the release of the so-called '28 pages,' revealed, no evidence whatsoever has emerged to suggest that the Saudi government or its officials were involved in terrorism," the embassy statement said. ".
In a statement on behalf of the 9/11 families, Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was killed on 9/11, said the document released by the FBI on Saturday raised any suspicions of Saudi complicity in the attacks.
"Now that the secrets of the Saudis have been revealed, it is time for the kingdom to know the role of its officials in killing thousands on American soil," the statement said.
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