Bin Laden family insists no financial ties with Osama

Lawyers for the Saudi Binladin Group, responding to lawsuits filed over the 9/11 attacks, say the large engineering and construction company is not liable for the terrorist plot...

Lawyers for the Saudi Binladin Group, responding to lawsuits filed over the 9/11 attacks, say the large engineering and construction company is not liable for the terrorist plot because it forced Osama bin Laden to surrender his stake in the company 14 years ago.

In court papers, the lawyers argued that the Saudi Binladin Group, founded in 1989, forced the terrorist mastermind out as a shareholder of the company and another family-owned company, the Mohammad Binladin Co, in June 1993.

The document was filed Friday evening in US District Court in Manhattan in response to claims in lawsuits brought by representatives, survivors and insurance carriers of the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

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Lawyers for the plaintiffs claimed that the Saudi Binladin Group, along with numerous banks, charities and individuals worldwide, provided material support and assistance to al-Qaeda prior to the attacks. The lawsuits seek billions of dollars in damages.

The court documents identified Bakr bin Laden — Osama bin Laden’s brother, the senior member of the bin Laden family and chairman of Saudi Binladin Group — as one of al-Qaeda’s principal financiers.

A judge in July had ordered Saudi Binladin Group to provide additional information about where the money for Osama bin Laden’s 2 per cent stake in the company went.

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said the designation gives law enforcement “enhanced powers to combat a group that has instilled fear through violence and intimidation”.

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