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FBI releases declassified 9/11 documents as Al-Qaida chief Al-Zawahri appears in new video

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The FBI on Saturday released the first document related to its investigation of Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and allegations of Saudi government support for the hijackers, following an executive order by President  Biden.

The partially redacted 16-page document released by the FBI outlined contacts between the hijackers and Saudi associates, but no evidence the government in Riyadh was complicit in the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

Saudi Arabia has long said it had no role in the attacks. The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent out of hours late on Saturday.

In a statement issued on Sept. 8, the embassy said Saudi Arabia has always advocated for transparency around the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and welcomes the release by the United States of classified documents relating to the attacks.

“As past investigations have revealed, including the 9/11 Commission and the release of the so-called ’28 Pages,’ no evidence has ever emerged to indicate that the Saudi government or its officials had previous knowledge of the terrorist attack or were in any way involved,” the embassy’s statement said.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia. A U.S. government commission found no evidence that Saudi Arabia directly funded al Qaeda, the group given safe haven by the Taliban in Afghanistan at the time. It left open whether individual Saudi officials might have.

The families of roughly 2,500 of those killed, and more than 20,000 people who suffered injuries, businesses, and various insurers, have sued Saudi Arabia seeking billions of dollars.

Meanwhile, Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri appeared in a new video marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, attacks, months after rumours spread that he was dead.

The Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) group that monitors jihadist websites said the video was released Saturday. In it, al-Zawahri said that Jerusalem Will Never be Judaized, and praised al-Qaida attacks including one that targeted Russian troops in Syria in January.

Al-Zawahri made no mention of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan and the capital Kabul last month, SITE added. But he did mention a Jan. 1, attack that targeted Russian troops on the edge of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.

Al-Zawahri, an Egyptian, became leader of al-Qaida following the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan by U.S. Navy SEALs.Rumors have spread since late 2020 that al-Zawahri had died from an illness. Since then, no video or proof of life surfaced, until Saturday.

The speech was recorded in a 61-minute, 37-second video produced by the group’s as-Sahab Media Foundation.

In recent years, al-Qaida has faced competition in jihadi circles from its rival, the Islamic State group. IS rose to prominence by seizing large swaths of Iraq and Syria in 2014, declaring a caliphate, and extending affiliates to multiple countries across the region.

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