Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Muhammad bin Salman / AP
A group of Persian Gulf states denounced legislation passed by the U.S. Congress last week that would allow the families of Sept. 11 victims to sue the Saudi Arabian government over its alleged links to terrorism.
The head of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif al-Zayani, said in a statement Monday that the bill stands "contrary to the foundations and principles of relations between states and the principle of sovereign immunity enjoyed by states," Reuters reported.
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates also publicly condemned the legislation. UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in a statement that the law would negatively impact international efforts to combat terrorism.
The House unanimously passed the bill on Friday, roughly four months after the Senate approved the legislation in May. Congressional leaders called the legislation a "moral imperative."
Republican and Democratic lawmakers along with a number of 9/11 families have implicated Saudi Arabia in the Sept. 11 attacks given that 15 of the 19 terrorists who participated were Saudi.
The Saudi government has denied involvement in the attacks.
The White House indicated that President Obama would veto the legislation. Obama has previously warned that such a law would set a dangerous precedent that endangers American officials abroad. Administration officials have also cited America’s decades-long strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia as reason to not upset Riyadh.
Current U.S. law only allows victims to sue a country that is officially designated as a state sponsor of terrorism. The legislation would strike that prerequisite and allow citizens to pursue legal action against any nation suspected of terrorism.
