9/11 Families Statement on Death of Ayman al-Zawahri & Need for Full Accountability in 9/11 Attacks
9/11 Families Chair Terry Strada commends military & intelligence community but notes the financiers of 9/11 “are not being targeted by drones, they are being met with fist pumps and hosted at golf clubs.”
Washington, D.C. – 9/11 Families United, which serves thousands of families and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, released the following statement this evening regarding reports that the United States killed Ayman al-Zawahri, the top leader of Al Qaeda and a key plotter of the 9/11 attacks, in a drone strike in Afghanistan over the weekend:
“We are deeply grateful for the commitment of America’s intelligence agencies and our brave military’s dedication and sacrifices that have been made in removing such evil from our lives,” said Terry Strada of 9/11 Families United, whose husband, Tom, was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. “This news is also a reminder that in order to achieve full accountability for the murders of thousands on Sept. 11, 2001, President Biden must also hold the Saudi paymasters accountable for killing our loved ones. The financiers are not being targeted by drones, they are being met with fist pumps and hosted at golf clubs. If we’re going to be serious about accountability, we must hold everyone accountable.”
Last month, 9/11 Families United wrote a letter to the White House requesting an in-person meeting with President Biden to discuss the importance of holding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to account for its government agents and government-sponsored institutions that gave the support needed for al Qaeda and the 9/11 hijackers to carry out the September 11 Attacks.
The request for an in-person meeting by the 9/11 community, which has been made multiple times, was made following the President’s public fist-bump and long meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Jeddah.
President Biden is the only sitting President in the last 20 years who has refused to meet with the 9/11 community, including around the 20th anniversary last year. When asked by a reporter for POLITICO at the White House press briefing on Wednesday, July 27th if the President would meet with the 9/11 families, spokesman John Kirby declined comment and further declined to even confirm or deny whether the 9/11 attacks were even discussed at President Biden’s recent meetings with Saudi leaders.
9/11 Families United also sent President Biden a letter on June 2nd after thousands of pages of new evidence regarding extremist elements in the Kingdom, including institutions that provided funding and support for the attacks, were released from President Biden’s own declassification order last year. Those documents were kept secret by the U.S. government for years. The majority of these documents were not available to the 9/11 Commission. CBS News reported in late April that the documents, for example, reveal how a Saudi intelligence operative – who was on the payroll of then-Ambassador Prince Bandar bin Sultan and who is still living freely in the Kingdom – was a key part of the hijackers’ U.S-based support network.
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About 9/11 Families United:
9/11 Families United is an organization of family members of those murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as many of those who survived, were injured in, or sickened from the attacks—a community of more than 10,000 people. More background and contact information can be found at www.911familiesunited.org.
