The Saudi Arabian government
has threatened to sell of hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of American
assets should the U.S. Congress pass a bill that could hold the kingdom
responsible for any role in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the New York Times
reported on Friday.
The newspaper
reported that Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir told U.S. lawmakers last
month that "Saudi Arabia would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in
Treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be
in danger of being frozen by American courts."
The bill, which
passed the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year, would take away
immunity from foreign governments in cases "arising from a terrorist attack
that kills an American on American soil."
The New York
Times, citing administration officials and congressional aides, said "the
Saudi threats have been the subject of intense discussions in recent weeks
between lawmakers and officials from the State Department and the
Pentagon."
It added that
the Obama administration had lobbied Congress to block the passage of the bill.
The State
Department said it stood "firmly with the victims of these acts of
violence and their loved ones."
"We remain
committed to bringing to justice terrorists and those who use terrorism to
advance their depraved ideology," said State Department spokesman John
Kirby.
In September a
U.S. judge dismissed claims against Saudi Arabia by families of victims of the
attacks, saying that the kingdom had sovereign immunity from damage claims by
the families and from insurers that covered losses suffered by building owners
and businesses.
(Reporting by
Idrees Ali; Editing by James Dalgleish)
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