Nearly 1,800 relatives of the 9/11 victims, first responders and survivors of the attack have signed a joint statement calling on US President Joe Biden to skip all memorial services related to the tragedy's 20th anniversary this year, NBC News reported citing a statement which it had obtained, which has yet to be released.
The signatories reportedly argued that the president can't visit places which are important to the families of the victims unless he fulfils his promise about reviewing the secrecy seal on some of the documents related to the 9/11 probes, specifically those related to the alleged involvement of the Saudi government in the attack.
"We cannot in good faith, and with veneration to those lost and injured, welcome the president to our hallowed grounds until he fulfills his commitment," the statement reportedly says.
The commitment the statement reportedly refers to, is the one that Biden made in October 2020, when he pledged to "hear all of [the] voices" of 9/11 families seeking "truth and accountability". The then-presidential candidate promised to order the Attorney General to review all the cases where state secrets privilege was invoked to keep concealed the supporting documents related to the investigation into the origins of the 2001 terrorist attack on the US. Biden, however, did not promise that all or any of these files would be declassified as a result.
The relations of the 9/11 victims have for years been seeking access to the documents of the original probe into the origins of the terrorist attack and a separate probe conducted in 2017 into the alleged involvement of Saudi Arabia. These attempts have been unsuccessful so far. Former President Donald Trump also promised to declassify some of the 9/11 documents, but U-turned on the pledge during his term.
"We are frustrated, tired and saddened with the fact that the US government for 20 years has chosen to keep information about the death of our loved ones behind lock and key [...] Twenty years later, there is simply no reason — unmerited claims of 'national security' or otherwise — to keep this information secret," Brett Eagleson, son of 9/11 victim Bruce Eagelson told the NBC.
Many of the 9/11 families are confident that the classified investigation documents contain evidence of Riyadh's help to the attackers and that the contents are merely hidden so that the strategic partnership the US has with one of its biggest Middle East allies should not be jeopardised. Although it is not disputed that many Saudi nationals financially supported al-Qaeda*, Riyadh denies backing the 9/11 attackers on a government level in any form. Several lawsuits seeking to hold the Saudi government accountable for the death and destruction caused by the al-Qaeda attackers in 2001 have failed in American courts.
* Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organisation which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries.