US justice decides to identify senior Saudi official involved in 9/11 attacks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The US Justice Department on Thursday unveiled the identity of a Saudi official accused of helping two September 11, 2001, planners believed to be linked to the Saudi government.

The official is one of three Saudi officials previously examined by a federal investigation and the public has been briefed on the identities of two of them, Fahd al-Thumairy and Omar Ahmed al-Bayoumi, who are associated with the Saudi government.

The ministry's approval followed a campaign of pressure and efforts by families of victims of the September 11 attacks to publicize the names of those involved and hold Saudi Arabia accountable.

Investigators told a federal court on Thursday that the Justice Department would reveal the name of a person believed to be linked to the Saudi government and accused of aiding two of the September 11 hijackers, according to CNN.

The identity of this person will remain a secret for the time being, although lawyers representing the families of the victims of the attacks will have access to it.

They are suing the Saudi government for helping coordinate the 2001 suicide bombings, a charge Riyadh denies.

CNN said lawyers could then petition the Department of Justice to disclose the name more widely.

The move came after the 18th anniversary of the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people when terrorists hijacked planes and rammed the World Trade Center and Pentagon towers and a field in Pennsylvania.

Flying lessons
The FBI had prepared an investigation into three people who were said to have helped find living space and provide financial assistance, as well as to help obtain flight lessons and driving licenses for two hijackers in southern California in the run-up to the attack.

Lawyers for the victims' families said the unidentified person was likely to be a senior Saudi official.

According to the FBI, the person who withheld his name commissioned Thumairi and Bayoumi with the help of the kidnappers.

According to one official, the information in the report about the unnamed person refers to the FBI's investigative theory at the time and not to the truth.

A statement from the families of the victims said Justice Secretary William Barr allowed the federal court in New York to see the name of a Saudi official who had assigned two Saudi employees to help the first kidnappers arriving in the United States.

Terry Strada, the representative of the victims' families, said they were determined to know the truth about the Saudi role, which should not be kept secret.