US: The agency that owned the World Trade Centre in New York said yesterday it would file a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia for damages it suffered on September 11th, 2001, noting that 84 of its employees were killed in the air attacks that toppled the twin towers.
"We also have a responsibility to the millions of people who live and work in the region as well as to our bond-holders to pursue every legal avenue to recover the losses we sustained on September 11th," the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement.
Mr Steve Coleman, a spokesman, declined to say why the agency sought to hold Saudi Arabia responsible or whether it would also sue other entities.
The Port Authority, a bi-state agency which leased New York's trademark twin towers in July 2001 to a developer, Mr Larry Silverstein, noted it was filing the lawsuit just one day before the three-year statute of limitations runs out.
"Our proposed action is in line with similar suits filed by other injured parties," the Port Authority said. Its statement did not say how much money it was seeking.
A spokesman for Mr Silverstein was not immediately available.
The agency, which said the lawsuit was being filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan yesterday, follows similar moves by other organisations, including Cantor Fitzgerald, the bond brokerage that lost the biggest number of workers in the attacks.
Cantor Fitzgerald last week sued both Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda in New York Federal Court, charging that the Saudis aided al-Qaeda.
The al-Qaeda network has been blamed for the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in Washington DC. that killed about 3,000 people. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. - (Reuters)