9/11 families accuse Saudi Arabia at memorial

Relatives of people killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks accused Saudi Arabia and past US leaders during a remembrance ceremony at the National 9/11 Memorial in New York on Friday.

Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was killed in the attacks and who chairs 9/11 Families United, said families still had “no justice” over what she called Saudi Arabia's role. She referred to a lawsuit brought by the group that alleges Saudi authorities supported the attackers.

Strada said the families had reached court and claimed they had proved that Saudi Arabia fostered anti-American terrorism and sent agents to support the hijackers. Her remarks drew cheers and applause during the annual reading of victims' names, a ceremony usually kept apolitical.

She also criticised US administrations as former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden looked on, along with Vice President JD Vance. “For 25 years, administration after administration -- including leaders in front of us here today -- chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with a 9/11 family,” she said.

Strada called on President Donald Trump, who attended a separate ceremony at the Pentagon, to tell Saudi Arabia to stop denying the allegations. She thanked Vance for attending and asked him to take that message back.

Another participant reading names, identified as the nephew of victim Lisa Marie Terry, accused “the deep state” of hiding the truth about what happened on September 11 and urged Trump to release unredacted files that he said implicate Saudi Arabia.

The attacks were carried out by mostly Saudi hijackers and orchestrated by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi founder of Al-Qaeda. Washington maintains strong military and diplomatic ties with Saudi Arabia.