Shortly before the 20th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center, US President Joe Biden released secret documents relating to the investigation for publication. The main focus is on investigations into the involvement of Saudi Arabia.
A week before the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, US President Joe Biden announced a far-reaching release of previously secret documents relating to the attacks. “Americans deserve to have a more complete picture of what the government knows about the attack,” said the presidential decree signed on Friday.
Biden is responding to increasing pressure from Congress and the victims’ families. They are currently trying in a lawsuit to obtain the surrender of the documents. These are now to be published in three steps over the next six months.
What do the US authorities know?
The published documents mainly concern the FBI’s Encore operation, which dealt with the question of what the Saudi Arabian government might have to do with the attacks. 15 of the 19 attackers came from the country, and Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for planning and financing, was a Saudi citizen. The documents relating to the investigation are so far secret.
For years, victims’ families have therefore been demanding that knowledge of the kingdom’s role in the attacks be made available to the public. Above all, they are concerned with a report from April 2016, in which they suspect the final results of the investigation should have been summarized. The existence of the 16-page document was confirmed as part of the ongoing proceedings, but the content has not yet been released to the public.
Slow release
This could change now. In the first two months after the ruling, “all other documents that were partially or completely kept secret during the discovery of evidence” will have to be released, the ruling stated. In the next four months, “all interview minutes, analytical documents, investigation documents or other relevant records” from the original investigative operation called “Penttbom” will follow if they are related to Operation Encore. Finally, the data follow on further investigations into the question of whether the attackers might have worked with another government.
But you won’t know everything afterwards either. “Indiscriminate” publication would endanger national security and the ability to prevent future attacks, the order said. “Information shouldn’t be kept secret when the public interest outweighs the threat to national security.” For which information this is the case, the justice minister and the secret service leaders should decide.
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