Hundreds of relatives of individuals killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have sued Saudi Arabia in U.S. court, seeking to take advantage of a law passed by Congress last year that allows victims of such attacks on U.S. soil to sue state sponsors.
The lawsuit filed on Monday in federal court in Manhattan is the latest effort to hold Saudi Arabia liable for the al-Qaida attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
For years, U.S. law granting foreign nations broad immunity from lawsuits scuttled attempts by Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia in New York. In 2015, U.S. District Judge George Daniels dismissed claims against the kingdom from Sept. 11 families, saying he did not have jurisdiction over a sovereign nation.