After revealing the identity of the surgeon, has the FBI split over Saudi Arabia's responsibility for the September 11 attacks?

Mohammed Al-Minshawi-Washington

The FBI accidentally revealed the identity of a mysterious official at the Saudi embassy in Washington who is suspected of helping two of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the momentum for several cases before federal courts in the Manhattan area of ​​New York City and in the US capital Washington .

The disclosure came in a document submitted by a FBI official last month to a federal court in response to a lawsuit filed by the families of the September 11 victims accusing the Saudi government of complicity in the attacks, and although the document obscures the name of the Saudi official, his name was mistakenly mentioned in one of the paragraphs, and related to the assistant Ahmed Jarrah .

Al-Jarrah is the Saudi diplomat who served his country's embassy in Washington between 1999 and 2000, and played a key functional role in overseeing the activities of Ministry of Islamic Affairs employees in Saudi Arabia in mosques and Islamic centers funded by Saudi Arabia within the United States. The disclosure of his identity represented a new point in a legal marathon Long.

The Yahoo website said that revealing the name of the Saudi official provides for the first time a clear confirmation that the FBI agents investigating the attacks believe that they have discovered a link between the kidnappers and the Saudi embassy in Washington.

Leaking and suspicions
On the other hand, a legal expert - who did not wish to reveal her identity due to the nature of her work in Washington - told Al-Jazeera Net that "the latest leak would increase suspicions of divisions within the (FBI) between a team that wants to condemn Saudi Arabia, and another team does not This wants to protect the important relations with Riyadh. "

The American expert stated that it is possible that "the American government covers up more information and the names of the Saudi officials. It is inconceivable that a small diplomat at the Washington embassy, ​​such as Al-Jarrah, may have contacted the terrorists without the guidance of higher-level officials to do so."

This important development came at a time when the image of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing a significant deterioration within the American circles during the days and recent weeks, due to its role in reducing oil prices and its negative effects on the American interior.

This development shed more light on a list of events that are still stuck in the minds of Americans and are linked to the negative image of Saudi Arabia, whether those related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi or the arrests of opinion-holders inside Saudi Arabia, especially women among them, in addition to the war in Yemen.

David Mack, a former ambassador and expert at the Atlantic Center in Washington, believes that this diversion compounds the problems of bilateral relations between Riyadh and Washington.

Mac said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that "the oldness of this problem and the passage of nearly two decades of it makes it less important compared to the contentious issues that have occurred in the two countries' relations in the recent period."

Ambassador Mac stressed to Al-Jazeera Net that "these developments weaken the return of relations between the two countries to their previous era, especially with regard to intelligence cooperation between them."

The position of the Justice Department
on the morning of September 11, 2019 (last) President Donald Trump welcomed dozens of families of the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks at the White House.

The visit was arranged so that each family was allowed to take a picture with President Trump and his wife Melania and talk to him for a few minutes.

The families took advantage of this opportunity and coordinated in advance to send a unified message to President Trump at this meeting regarding the need for the FBI's Department of Justice to release classified documents related to the 9/11 investigations, in order to find out all the truth about who was responsible for the attacks.

Some families have reminded President Trump that the administrations of President George Bush and President Barack Obama, and some FBI officials are hampering their efforts to view and publish the documents.

President Trump promised his guests that their request would be "fulfilled", as reported by a New York Times investigative report. Trump asked Justice Secretary William Barr to release these documents, and released the name of the aforementioned Saudi diplomat and his role in the investigations.

However, the Justice Department’s attorneys advised against publishing the diplomat’s name, and they considered this a "major threat to American national security", which the Minister of Justice has committed to.

The Congressional Political Investigation Committee into the events of September 11 regarding the Saudi role in the attacks concluded that "excluding the involvement of senior Saudi officials or Saudi government agencies in financing Al Qaeda." No formal accusation has been made against the Saudi government of its involvement or any role in these attacks.

And Congress passed important legislation in 1976 known as the Sovereign Immunity Protection Act, which created obstacles against suing sovereign foreign governments before US courts.

Before the end of 2016, President Barack Obama's veto effort in a failed attempt to stop Gaste legislation, which allowed for the possibility of filing lawsuits from the families of the victims of the September 11 attacks against the Saudi government, failed.

Speculation and pressure
"The leak of the Saudi official's name may open the door to pressure from the families of the victims and many members of Congress, to reveal the secrets of the September 11 attacks by the Ministry of Justice and the FBI," the American expert says to Al Jazeera Net.

Meanwhile, David Ottway, a Saudi expert at the Wilson Center, expressed his amazement that the truth has not been reached and the issue has been closed so far.

Otway spoke to Al Jazeera Net and said, "19 years have passed since the September 11 attacks without the defendants being subjected to a fair trial, because the Saudi authorities will not allow these people to be brought to justice in an American court."

Michael Fagritti, a former FBI counterterrorism official, said, "The FBI continues its investigations, no matter how long it takes. Our aim is to hold all those responsible for these attacks accountable," he told the New York Times.