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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Tue Mar 21, 2017, 11:00 AM Mar 2017

Saudi Arabia wants Trump to drop 9/11 victims law

Source: Newsweek



21 MAR 2017 AT 07:53 ET



Saudi Arabia's energy chief revealed Friday that Riyadh anticipated President Donald Trump would repeal a 2016 U.S. law allowing victims of 9/11 to sue Saudi Arabia for the role of its citizens in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania in 2001.

The oil-rich kingdom's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, who also heads the lucrative state-owned petroleum company Aramco, told The Wall Street Journal that the government was "not happy" about the passage of the September of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, also known as Jasta, which held foreign governments responsible for acts of terror committed by their nationals against the U.S. citizens. Falih said the law was passed during a "heated political period" under former President Barack Obama, who opposed the bill but pressed Riyadh on other human rights issues such as its role in the conflict in Yemen. Falih said the Trump administration would reverse the law.

“We believe after due consideration by the new Congress and the new administration, that corrective measures will be taken,” Falih told The Wall Street Journal, without specifying what action would be taken.

-snip-

Out of the 19 hijackers involved in 9/11, 15 were from Saudi Arabia. This led the FBI to conduct a confidential investigation into alleged ties between Saudi Arabia's leadership and the attackers. The findings, which were made partially public in July, did find indirect ties via a company associated with the former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S., but no conclusive link was reportedly established between the Saudi Arabian government and the events of 9/11. Riyadh has denied any involvement whatsoever and was deeply critical of the bill.



Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/saudi-arabia-wants-trump-to-drop-911-victims-law/

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Saudi Arabia wants Trump to drop 9/11 victims law (Original Post) DonViejo Mar 2017 OP
They'll have to go through Turbineguy Mar 2017 #1
In the meantime, keep restricting people from countries that didn't attack us IronLionZion Mar 2017 #2
k&r for wider exposure. uppityperson Mar 2017 #3
To be honest I am with Saudi Arabia. cstanleytech Mar 2017 #4
Trump seems beholden to the Saudis too neohippie Mar 2017 #5
Trump resets relations with Saudi Arabia neohippie Mar 2017 #6

IronLionZion

(45,258 posts)
2. In the meantime, keep restricting people from countries that didn't attack us
Tue Mar 21, 2017, 11:12 AM
Mar 2017

are you sick of winning yet?

cstanleytech

(26,080 posts)
4. To be honest I am with Saudi Arabia.
Tue Mar 21, 2017, 11:39 AM
Mar 2017

Its simply ludicrous to hold another country at fault for the actions of one of their citizens unless of course the person is acting as an agent for said country.

neohippie

(1,142 posts)
5. Trump seems beholden to the Saudis too
Tue Mar 21, 2017, 12:42 PM
Mar 2017

Things that might influence his decisions are why we need to know more about Trump's finances, loans, partnerships etc...



http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/306990-trump-appeared-to-register-eight-companies-in-saudi-arabia


President-elect Donald Trump registered eight companies during his presidential campaign that appear to be tied to hotel interests in Saudi Arabia, according to a report in The Washington Post.

Trump registered the companies in August 2015, shortly after launching his presidential bid, according to The Post.

The companies were registered under names such as THC Jeddah Hotel and DT Jeddah Technical Services, according to financial disclosure filings.
The names of the companies registered appeared similar in pattern to how Trump named other companies connected to hotel deals registered in foreign cities, according to the Post. Trump names companies after cities in the state in which he is dealing with. Jiddah, also spelled Jeddah, is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia, located on the Red Sea coast about 60 miles west of Mecca.

The Post reported that by the time of Trump's May financial filing, four of those companies in which Trump was the president or director were still active. Trump has in the past said he wants to protect the oil-rich Arab kingdom.

During a rally on August 21, the day Trump created four of those companies, he said he gets along well with Saudi Arabia.

"They buy apartments from me," Trump said during the Alabama rally. "They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

In January of this year, Trump said on Fox News he "would want to protect Saudi Arabia.

"I would want to protect Saudi Arabia," he said during the interview. "But Saudi Arabia is going to have to help us economically. They were making, before the oil went down ... they were making $1 billion a day.”

During his presidential campaign, the president-elect often called out his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, for accepting money from Saudi Arabia for the Clinton Foundation.





neohippie

(1,142 posts)
6. Trump resets relations with Saudi Arabia
Tue Mar 21, 2017, 01:01 PM
Mar 2017

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/josh-rogin/wp/2017/03/16/trump-resets-u-s-saudi-relations-in-saudi-arabias-favor/?utm_term=.f69edb4fbf37

“Saudis have actually expressed marked optimism about the Trump administration and its ‘America first’ approach to foreign policy,” Andrew Bowen, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote in a paper this week. “Trump’s disdain for meddling in the internal affairs of foreign nations and his tough, no-nonsense approach to ISIS and Iran are music to their ears.”

Trump’s Cabinet picks also are longtime friends of the Saudi government and their Persian Gulf allies. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has worked with Gulf governments for decades on military issues, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has deep ties from his time as an executive at ExxonMobil. Both Mattis and Tillerson are reportedly agreed that political reform and human rights concerns should be discarded as conditions for U.S. military aid.

By becoming the first Arab leaders to be greeted at the White House, the Saudis have pulled off a diplomatic coup, beating out one of Trump’s favorite leaders, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. They also blunted years of criticism by Trump of U.S. military support for Saudi Arabia.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly railed against Saudi Arabia, one of the countries he described to his supporters at rallies across the nation as freeloaders who were relying on American protection without paying their fair share.
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