In an amendment added to a lawsuit filed on behalf of the families of victims who died in 9/11 terrorist attack, lawyers contend that two men were being funded by the Saudi government when they attempted a "dry run" attack on a plane in 1999.
According to a report in the New York Post, FBI evidence suggests that the Saudi Government paid two nationals to pose as students and come to the US to fly from Phoenix to Washington DC.
"We've long asserted that there were longstanding and close relationships between al Qaeda and the religious components of the Saudi government,' said Sean Carter, lead attorney for the 9/11 plaintiffs who are suing the Saudi government.
According to the court filing there is was a "pattern of both financial and operational support" from the Saudi government that aided the nationals, Mohammed al-Qudhaeein and Hamdan al-Shalaw, in 1999.
The FBI indicated that Qudhaeein was employed at the Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Islamic Affairs, while Shalawi was "a longtime employee of the Saudi government."
During what is being termed a "test run," both men tried multiple times to gain access to the cockpit of an America West flight to Washington.
"After they boarded the plane in Phoenix, they began asking the flight attendants technical questions about the flight that the flight attendants found suspicious," the FBI case file states.
"When the plane was in flight, al-Qudhaeein asked where the bathroom was; one of the flight attendants pointed him to the back of the plane," the file continues. "Nevertheless, al-Qudhaeein went to the front of the plane and attempted on two occasions to enter the cockpit."
The pilot of the plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Ohio where the two men were taken into custody but later released by the FBI.
You can read the whole report here.
