CLAWDAMME!!
Sept. 11 Families Sue Saudis, Banks
By LAURIE KELLMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) - Some 600 family members of Sept. 11
victims filed a trillion-dollar federal lawsuit
Thursday against Saudi officials, banks and charities,
charging they financed Osama bin Laden's network and
the attacks on New York and Washington.
The 15-count lawsuit, modeled after action filed
against Libya in the Pan Am flight 103 disaster, seeks
to cripple banks, charities and some members of the
Saudi royal family as a deterrent to terrorist
financing schemes.
But the suit also is therapeutic, and the plaintiffs
face long odds, the families acknowledged.
``It's not the money. We want to do something to get
at these people,'' said Irene Spina, whose daughter,
Lisa L. Trerotola, 38, perished in the World Trade
Center. ``There's nothing else we can do.''
``This is the right thing to do,'' said Matt Sellito,
father of Matthew Carmen Sellito, 23, who also died in
the World Trade Center. ``If the odds are stacked
against us, we will beat them.''
The 258-page complaint, filed electronically Thursday
in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, seeks more than
$1 trillion and charges the defendants with
racketeering, wrongful death, negligence and
conspiracy.
Lead attorney Ron Motley said the money would likely
come largely from assets held by the defendants in the
United States. He said the plaintiffs were after more
institutions than those whose assets already have been
frozen by the U.S. and other governments.
The complaint also ignores the Bush administration's
delicate diplomatic balancing act with Saudi Arabia by
bluntly blaming the kingdom's officials and
institutions for the attacks.
``That kingdom sponsors terrorism,'' Motley told
reporters at a news conference. ``This is an insidious
group of people.''
The complaint names more than seven dozen defendants,
including the government of Sudan, seven banks, eight
Islamic foundations and three Saudi princes.
Those listed include Princes Mohammed al Faisal al
Saud and Turki al Faisal al Saud, Saudi Defense
Minister Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, Khalid bin
Salim bin Mahfouz of the National Commercial Bank, and
the Faisal Islamic Bank.
Officials from the Saudi Embassy did not immediately
return a call for comment.
President Bush's administration has been careful not
to blame the Saudi government for the attacks in its
drive build a coalition for its war against terrorism.
Prince Saud said last week that the 70-year-old
U.S.-Saudi alliance was as solid now as before the
Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
He said bin Laden, who was stripped of Saudi
citizenship and is accused of directing the al-Qaida
attacks, had intended to drive a wedge between the two
countries when he chose 15 Saudi citizens to be among
the 19 hijackers.
Several plaintiffs, fighting tears, said they would
dedicate the rest of their lives to punishing those
who financed the attacks.
``We will succeed because we have the facts and the
law on our side,'' said Thomas E. Burnett Sr., whose
son, Thomas E. Burnett Jr., led a passenger revolt
against the hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 and
died when it plummeted to the ground.
``We have justice and morality on our side,'' he
added.
In May, lawyers announced that a group of Libyans had
negotiated a deal that would give $10 million each to
the families of the Lockerbie victims. But Libya
insisted the group did not have authorization from the
government to negotiate.
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$$$116 Trillion Lawsuit
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