US, May 18, 2016 – The Senate in the United States has okayed a Bill that will allow relatives of people that died in the September 9, 2011 attack when Al-Qaeda struck the twin towers at World Trade Centre and the Pentagon to sue Saudi Arabia and obtain damages.
Saudi Arabia government has denied involvement in the attack and has threatened to sell the kingdom’s $750bn worth of assets in the US if the legislation becomes law.
Experts fear that sales of such assets will plummet the value of the US Dollars with dire consequence for the US economy.
So far, the House of Representatives has withheld approval of the bill. Speaking on the development, Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan said the bill has a fallout of eliciting similar laws in other countries with dire consequence on America.
Tagged Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) was passed unanimously in the Senate on Tuesday.
Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir has said his country’s objection to the bill is based on principles of international relations.
“What Congress is doing is stripping the principle of sovereign immunity which would turn the world for international law into the law of the jungle,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Speaking on the bill, John Cornyn, a Texas Senator said if passed victims and families who have lost loved ones in terror attacks would have opportunity to demand justice.
