Congress finally releases missing 9/11 report pages

On Friday, Congress released 28 pages of previously classified information from the 9/11 report detailing the Saudi Arabian government's potential ties to the terrorist attacks. While Saudi officials have long called for the pages' release in the hopes of dispelling any incriminating rumors of involvement, the pages from the Joint Congressional Inquiry in 2002 list numerous possible links between Saudi nationals and al Qaeda operatives.

One paragraph suggests that at least two individuals "in contact with" or assisting 9/11 hijackers were "alleged to be Saudi intelligence officers." Another notes a concerning "gap in U.S. intelligence coverage" on Saudi Arabia, which was revealed after "neither CIA nor FBI witnesses were able to identify definitively the extent of Saudi support for terrorist activity globally or within the United States and the extent to which such support, if it exists, is knowing or inadvertent in nature," the report says. That gap — coupled with the wide-ranging, if tentative, evidence provided in the report — ultimately leaves the question of Saudi involvement largely unanswered.

The document was previously marked as classified to protect intelligence sources and also to avoid risking diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The House Intelligence Committee agreed only recently to release the report, after years of urging by lawmakers and family members of the Sept. 11 victims.

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