Riyadh says new US law will undermine international relations

04 October 2016

Government says law allowing US citizens to sue the kingdom is of great concern to the international community

Riyadh has said the adoption of a law allowing US citizens to sue its government over the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York is of great concern to the international community and could affect all countries.

The cabinet said the US law – Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) – is in violation of the basic spirit of international relations, which is based on “equality and sovereign immunity”, the principles governing international relations for hundreds of years.

“Weakening this sovereign immunity will affect all countries, including the US,” Information Minister Adel al-Toraifi said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) after the weekly session of the cabinet in Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia hopes that “wisdom will prevail and the US Congress will take the necessary steps to avoid the bad and dangerous consequences that may result from enacting JASTA,” Al-Toraifi was quoted as saying in the statement.

The Senate and Congress last week rejected President Barack Obama’s veto of JASTA, which allows relatives of the victims of the 11 September attacks to sue Saudi Arabia, a long-standing ally of the US in the Arab world.

The overwhelming rejection was the first veto override of Obama’s eight-year presidency. The House of Representatives voted 348-76 against the veto, after the Senate rejected it 97-1. Senators had argued that the families of the victims should be allowed to pursue justice, even if it causes diplomatic challenges.

President Obama claimed JASTA could expose US companies, troops and officials to lawsuits, and alienate important allies at a time of global unrest.

Fifteen out of the 19 hijackers in the 9/11 attacks were Saudi nationals. Riyadh has always dismissed suspicions that it backed the attackers, who killed nearly 3,000 people.

The Saudi government lobbied strongly against JASTA in the run-up to the vote, and warned it would undermine the principle of sovereign immunity.

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