TEHRAN, Sept 08 -The US Justice Department is considering disclosing the redacted name of a person sought by the plaintiffs in a long-running lawsuit which seeks to link the Saudi Arabian government with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -torney General William Barr faced a Friday deadline to decide whether to release the name redacted from a 2012 FBI document that showed how men in Southern California helped two terrorist hijackers prior to the attack.
Justice Department officials, however, decided more time is needed, thus, they submitted a request to a federal court in New York for an extension until Sept. 12, which was approved.
“We make this request because the FBI’s response to the motion is being coordinated at the highest levels of the Department of Justice, and additional time is needed to finalize the FBI’s submission and the scope of the privilege assertions,” US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said in a letter.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the 9/11 case believe the person, whose name they seek, may be a Saudi official who tasked two men in California with assisting the terrorists.
According to the lawsuit, lodged in 2003 by injured victims, families of victims and others, Saudi government employees knowingly helped the hijacking plot.
In response to the new development, Terry Strada, national chair of the 9/11 Families & Survivors United for Justice Against Terrorism, said, “We’re glad the Attorney General requested more time to look at this issue so that he can get this right.”
“This is not a state secret, plain and simple, and we’re counting on DOJ to apply the law faithfully and release the name to us.”
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