There is no evidence that the Saudi government was directly involved in the funding, training or planning of 9/11
LAHORE: This is with reference to the US Congress voting against President Barack Obama’s veto to stop a bill giving rights to individual Americans for suing the Saudi government for losses incurred in the 9/11 attacks. By doing so, the US Congress has jeopardised the Doctrine of State Sovereignty, which granted immunity to states from prosecution by individual citizens and restricting this right to states only.
There is no definitive evidence that the Saudi government was directly involved in the funding, training or planning of 9/11. This veto would set a bad precedent for the US government, which could face similar prosecution by citizens of other countries who have suffered loss of life or property at the hands of the US. For example, Pakistani victims of US drone strikes could sue the US in local courts.
This should awaken governments in Africa and Asia whose foreign reserves are parked in banks within the US for safekeeping. Pakistan itself has jeopardised its foreign exchange reserves, when, during the tenures of General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz, a bulk of them were deposited in an American bank, where the former prime minister had once served. It is time important financial institutions and regulatory bodies were not headed by individuals with split loyalties.
Pakistan is, perhaps, among a few nations whose numerous rulers, when not holding office, prefer to live in foreign countries. Even the sitting prime minister had no hesitation to stop in London where his family lives, on his way back after addressing the UN General Assembly, at a time when there were heightened tensions along the Pakistan-India border whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi preferred to stay back, cancelling his foreign trip.
Ali Malik
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2016.
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