Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan blamed in latest lawsuit stemming from Sept. 11 attacks

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK, Mar 10, 2004 (AP) — The family of a former FBI counterterrorism chief killed in the World Trade Center collapse sued Saudi Arabia, Syria and Sudan, accusing them of aiding terrorists worldwide.

In two lawsuits, the wife and children of John O’Neill are seeking more than $100 billion in damages for themselves and other survivors of those who died at the trade center, the Pentagon or on the hijacked airplanes.

The lawsuits filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan are the latst of several since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against countries, companies and organizations accused of aiding al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. Last year O’Neill’s family filed a lawsuit against Iraq.

The new lawsuits argue that the Sept. 11 attacks had been planned for years by a network of Islamic militants with the assistance of banks, governments and individuals.

A call for comment placed to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., went unanswered late Wednesday. Messages left with the Sudanese and Syrian missions to the United Nations were not immediately returned.

O’Neill was one of the FBI’s top terrorism experts before he left the bureau shortly before the Sept. 11 attacks amid an investigation into his loss of a briefcase with sensitive FBI documents. He became chief of security at the trade center.