Obama visits Riyadh as 9/11 accusations against Saudi Arabian officials mount


President Obama arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday as tensions surrounding a confidential 9/11 congressional intelligence report mount both at home and abroad. Obama has urged the release of the documents, which conclude that Saudi officials in the U.S. might have had a hand in engineering the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. However, Saudi officials have vehemently denied such accusations.
Stateside, there is bipartisan support for a bill that would let American citizens sue Saudi Arabia for 9/11, which Obama opposes due to the window it would open for other nations to do the same to the U.S. down the line. "This is not just a bilateral U.S.-Saudi issue. This is a matter of how, generally, the United States approaches our interactions with other countries," Obama said in an interview with CBS.
Obama will reportedly raise concerns about the congressional report with Saudi King Salman, as well as discuss other diplomatic issues including the role of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, in their meetings.
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You can read more about the congressional report and the tricky diplomatic navigating the president will be doing in Riyadh in The New York Times.
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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
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