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Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
By Thomas Frank, Washington Bureau


November 2, 2002

9/11 Litigants
Oppose Lawsuit Block

Rally on Capitol Hill Nov 1, 2002
(AP Photo)
Reports of U.S. intervention in suit against Saudis protested
(contact Sacks & Sacks, LLP for more information)

Washington -- A group of Sept. 11 families and survivors angrily denounced President George W. Bush Friday, citing reports the administration may try to block their lawsuit against Saudi Arabian banks and charities that allegedly financed al-Qaida.

Speakers at a rally said the Bush administration would "obstruct justice," "sell out" and "fail us again" if it filed legal objections to their lawsuit out of concern the case would harm U.S.-Saudi relations.

"How dare you, Mr. President, tell me I cannot go through the legal system," said Matt Sellitto of Harding Township, N.J., whose son Matt, 23, died in the World Trade Center. "If you do this, Mr. President, the blood of my son is now on your hands."

More than 3,500 Sept. 11 family members and survivors are seeking as much as $1 trillion in a suit similar to one brought by relatives of passengers who died on Pan Am Flight 103, which terrorists blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Libyan government recently offered to pay $10 million to each surviving family.

However, the Bush administration may seek to dismiss, delay or limit the current suit, according to recent reports in The Washington Post and elsewhere. The administration reportedly has heard from Saudi officials concerned that the lawsuit seeks damages from two prominent members of the Saudi royal family, who are accused of giving money to charities and front groups that sustained al-Qaida.

A State Department spokesman said Thursday, "At this stage, the Department of State has no plans to intervene in this case."

"That's not the answer we want," said Ron Motley, the Charleston, S.C., lawyer who
filed the suit in August in federal court just outside Washington. He said the Sept. 11 families want assurance the administration will never interfere with the case.

Motley also said he has "not received a single paper from the government," despite requests to the State, Justice, Treasury and Defense departments. Particularly valuable, Motley said, would be a Saudi investigation from the 1990s -- cited by the United States in recent criminal cases against suspected terrorists -- about Saudi charities and banks facilitating terrorism.

Motley said 13 countries, including Russia and Bosnia, have given him hundreds of thousands of pages of investigative files and intelligence reports.

Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said Motley had not sought any information. "We're at a loss to what they're saying," Miller said.

The suit is backed by 9/11 Families United to Bankrupt Terrorism, whose members, many from the New York area, held the rally of about 100 people Friday in front of the U.S. Capitol. Stunned by possible government opposition, they said their suit would help fight terrorists by draining their financial networks.

"I fear the president is losing sight of the promise he made to the American people," said Ellen Saracini, the widow of Victor Saracini, who was captain of the plane that hit the South Tower.

Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.

-- Ironworker falls from ladder. $85,637,000.

-- Ironworker was injured when 25 foot-high column collapsed. $30,477,076.

--Ironworker fell through unguarded opening - $26,902,576 to plaintiff and $700,000 to his wife, for loss of services.

-- Scaffold Worker hit by a falling iron brace at construction site., The brace broke through his hard hat, lacerated his hand and struck his face. $12,430,000.

-- 31-year-old foreman for the ironworkers injured when he and the ladder he was using fell 20 to 25 feet to the ground $12,419,611

-- 33-year-old Pipe Layer was working in a portioned area when he was struck by a truck.He underwent a laminectomy and lumbar fusion. $11,103,391.

-- 35-year-old ornamental ironworker lost his footing and fell through an opening in the stairwell, landing on the 18th floor below. Verdict $7,462,000.

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