BAGHDAD (Web Desk) – Following the approval of US bill allowing the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for damages, an Iraqi group is pushing legislators for a law seeking compensation for the American invasion.
The “Arab Project in Iraq” lobby group is urging the parliament to demand compensation from US for their invasion in 2003 that dethroned the then President Saddam Hussain.
The lobby group is taking the plea of “Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act” (JASTA), which was given a green signal by US congress overriding the principle of sovereign immunity to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia.
Although President Obama had attempted to veto the JASTA but to his dismay, his veto was overturned by the Senate. The bill allows US to sue Saudi Arabia but it has also made the US vulnerable to legal action seeking compensation for its foreign policy activities across the world.
On Saturday the first US lawsuit was filed under JASTA, alleging that Saudi Arabia provided material support to al-Qaeda and its leader Osama bin Laden. The complaint was filed by Stephanie Ross DeSimone, who was widowed when her husband, a Navy Commander, was killed at the Pentagon on 9/11.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia categorically gainsaid any involvement in 9/11 carnage. The Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the US Congress in March that the Kingdom would be forced to sell up to $750 billion in Treasury securities and other assets in the United States before they could be in danger of being frozen by American courts.
