Release of Classified Pages on Foreign 9/11 Support Imminent

Washington, D.C. Nearly 15 years after terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon outside Washington, D.C., and a farm field in Pennsylvania, 28 pages detailing foreign support for the attackers could soon be made public.

World Trade Center 9/11/01. Photo: Cyril Attias.

Only a select group of U.S. officials have read the highly classified document, which has been locked in a secure area of the U.S. Capitol building since a joint congressional committee crafted it in 2002.

Bills in both the Senate and House of Representatives and people who helped write it are calling for its release.

Despite its classified status, those familiar with the chapter have made enough allusions to its connections with Saudi Arabia for people to wonder about what exact link the document may suggest.

Former Senator Bob Graham, who was a part of the joint committee, said Sunday during an interview on NBC's Meet The Press the pages should be released to end debate over what they contain and let the American public make up its own mind about the contents.

When asked if the release would have a high-level negative impact, Graham said yes.

Saudi citizens

He said whether the 19 hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi citizens, had any outside help is the most important outstanding question related to the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

"I think it's implausible to think that people who couldn't speak English, had never been in the United States before, as a group were not well-educated, could have done that," he said. "So who was the most likely entity to have provided them that support? And I think that all of the evidence points to Saudi Arabia."

Former President George W. Bush ordered the 28 pages to be classified and not included in the 828-page congressional report that was released to the public.

His successor, Barack Obama, has ordered his intelligence team to review the chapter, and Graham said he hopes the text will be made available when a decision is made by June.

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