RIYADH: A United States law allowing victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia could have “serious implications” for shared US-Gulf interests, a top Obama administration official said Thursday. US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew made the comments at the opening of a meeting with finance ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, whose most powerful member is Saudi Arabia. Fifteen of the 19 Al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people were Saudi, but Riyadh denies any ties to the plotters. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have also expressed concern about erosion of sovereign immunity, a principle sacrosanct in international relations. Later Thursday, Lew was to meet King Salman, Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef, and Saudi economic officials.

Source: Manila Times October 27, 2016 08:18 UTC