CIA Director John Brennan said in an interview with a Saudi Arabian
television station Sunday that he expects the 28 classified pages of a
U.S. congressional report into the Sept. 11 attacks to absolve Saudi
Arabia of responsibility.
“I think the 28 pages will be published and I support
their publication and everyone will see the evidence that the Saudi
government had nothing to do with it,” Brennan said in an interview with
Arabiya TV, according to Reuters.
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The classified section of the 2002 report is a key
part to a dispute over whether Americans should be able to sue Saudi
Arabia for damages. The Senate approved legislation last month allowing
families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the Saudi government, defying a
White House veto threat as well as threats of economic retaliation from
Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s government has threatened to pull billions of dollars from the U.S. economy if the plan is enacted.
Saudi Arabia denies providing any support for the 19
hijackers – most of whom were Saudi citizens – who killed nearly 3,000
people in the terror attacks.
Brennan insists the 28-page section is just a “preliminary review.”
“It was found later, according to the results of the
report, that there was no link between the Saudi government as a state
or as an institution or even senior Saudi officials to the Sept. 11
attacks,” he explained.
The Office of the U.S. Director of National
Intelligence is reviewing the material to determine whether it should be
declassified.
Former Sen. Bob Graham, who co-chaired the
congressional investigation into the attacks, said in April the White
House will likely make a decision on declassification efforts by June.