Riyadh threatens to sell off billions in US assets if Congress passes 9/11 bill

NEW YORK – Saudi Arabia has warned it would sell off hundreds of billions of dollars of assets in the United States if the US Congress passes a bill that could hold the kingdom responsible in American courts for any role in the 9/11 attacks.

The New York Times reported on Friday that the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Adel al-Jubeir, personally told US lawmakers last month that the kingdom would be forced to sell off $750 billion in assets before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.

The bill, which revokes immunity from foreign governments in cases "arising from a terrorist attack that kills an American on American soil," passed the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year.

The Times reported that the Obama administration has lobbied Congress to block the passage of the bill, but that the State Department has said it stands "firmly with the victims of these acts of violence and their loved ones."

If the bill comes to pass, victims of the 9/11 attacks or their families could seek financial compensation from the Saudi kingdom in US courts.

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via Defense News