The Sydney Morning Herald, March 5 2003
Lawsuit bid to link Bali, September 11
By Marian Wilkinson, Herald Correspondent in Washington
The Indonesian and Singaporean governments are expected to resist efforts by
lawyers for the victims of the September 11 attacks to hand over intelligence material
that might help their civil damages case.
A lawyer representing families of 600 people killed in the September 11 attacks said
that confidential court documents showed a link between Saudi Arabian financial
organisations and some of the suspects named in the Bali bombing case.
Allan Gerson, who has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the September 11 families, said on
Monday that sealed documents in the case showed that Saudi entities which
transferred money to European terrorist cells, "were also transferring such money to
Bali". There was also information that individuals linked to the European cells travelled
to Bali.
Mr Gerson refused to offer any further specifics, saying the court material was still
confidential and he did not know when the evidence would be made public. "It was just
incidental that we saw references to it," he said.
Mr Gerson was involved in a similar case against Libya after the 1988 Lockerbie
bombing.
The lawsuit for the September 11 victims has been filed in the US District Court and
names as defendants three Saudi princes, seven banks and a number of international
Muslim charities that allegedly channelled money to al-Qaeda.
Diplomatic sources in Washington said there was some concern the lawyers for the
September 11 victims may try to use the link to Bali to pressure the governments of
Indonesia, Singapore and possibly Malaysia to disclose intelligence material to the
civil case. Any legal attempt to do this would be fought by these governments.
International Muslim charities have reportedly helped fund the activities of Abu Bakar
Bashir, the Indonesian cleric seen as the spiritual head of Jemaah Islamiah. Leading
JI members have been arrested over the Bali bombing, and though Abu Bakar has
been arrested regarding other operations, he has not been charged over the Bali
attacks.
It will be difficult to establish that any of the charity funds supporting his educational
or spiritual activities were diverted to the Bali attack, according to diplomatic sources
in Washington who have followed the case.
The lawsuit filed by the September 11 families has been a source of tension between
Saudi Arabia and the US. The lawsuit claims that members of the Saudi royal family
helped to financially support al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden.
Copyright © 2003. The Sydney Morning Herald.
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