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IN RE TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
803
Cite as 349 F.Supp.2d_ 765 (S.D.N.Y. 2005)
duct of ostensible charities under the
Kingdom’s control.” Federal Opp. to Mo-
tion to Dismiss of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia at 12° Thus, the Federal Plaintiffs
claim the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aided
and abetted the terrorists through these
charities. In attempting to overcome the
presumption of the Kingdom’s sovereign
immunity, the Federal Plaintiffs argue the
merits of their claims against the chari-
ties." Based on news accounts that the
Kingdom has dissolved its international
charities and terrorist financing reports
that implicate certain charities, the Feder-
al Plaintiffs urge the Court to find that the
Kingdom had previously willfully ignored
the charities’ support for terrorism. See,
e.g. Federal Opp. to Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia Motion to Dismiss Ex. 2 (“Terrorist
Financing, Report of an Independent Task
Force Sponsored by the Council on For-
eign Relations”), Ex. 3 (CNN.com June 2,
2004 “Saudis reform charities as antiterror
measure” (mentioning only Al Haramain
Islamic Foundation)), Ex. 5 (Senate Sub-
committee Testimony, July 31, 2003 by
Steven Emerson with Jonathan Levin,
“Terrorism Financing: Origination, Or-
ganization, and Prevention: Saudi Arabia,
Terrorist Financing and the War on Ter-
ror”).
30. The Federal Plaintiffs allege that each of
the following charities, which are all named
as Defendants and represented by counsel in
these actions, are agencies, instrumentalities,
arms or organs of the Kingdom: MWL, IIRO,
WAMY, Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Sa-
udi High Commission for Relief to Bosnia and
Herzegovina, SJRC, Rabita Trust, Saudi Red
Crescent, and BIF. The Kingdom disputes the
instrumentality status of MWL, ITRO, WAMY,
Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, Rabita
Trust, and BIF. These Plaintiffs request dis-
covery as to the instrumentality status of these
charities. The request is denied at this time
and may be more appropriate when the Court
considers each of the charities’ motions to
dismiss.
In response, the Kingdom argues that
Plaintiffs ignore Osama bin Laden’s public
targeting of the Kingdom. See, e.g., Bier-
stein Aff. in Opp. to Prince Sultan’s Motion
to Dismiss, Ex. 3 & 4; The 9/11 Commis-
ston Report: Final Report of the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon
the United States, 48, 373 (July 2004)
(hereinafter “9/11 Report”). The King-
dom also submits it has worked with the
United States to share information in the
fight against terrorism. 9/11 Report, at
115-22; Prince Turki Decl. 117, 8, 10.
The U.S. State Department has not desig-
nated the Kingdom a state sponsor of ter-
rorism. Additionally, the presidentially-
appointed September 11 commission found
no evidence of the Kingdom’s funding or
support for the September 11 terrorists.
9/11 Report, at 171 (““[Wle have found no
evidence that the Saudi government as an
institution or senior Saudi officials individ-
ually funded the organization.”).
The Court finds the Plaintiffs’ allega-
tions cannot overcome the discretionary
function exception to the tortious acts ex-
ception. Marchisella v. Gov't of Japan,
2004 WL 307248, at *2 (explaining acts
performed at the planning, as opposed to
operational, level of government are pro-
tected by immunity); Robinson, 269 F.3d
at 146 (noting conclusory nature of allega-
31. Rather than pleading specific facts show-
ing that the Kingdom caused Plaintiffs’ inju-
ries, the Federal Plaintiffs focus predominant-
ly on the charities’ actions. For example,
these Plaintiffs argue that the Kingdom has
waived the defense of sovereign immunity be-
cause certain charities, which have not been
designated as instrumentalities of the King-
dom and which are represented by separate
counsel, did not raise the FSIA defense in
The Court is not
convinced by this argument because the waiv-
er of FSIA immunity must be explicit. See
Banco de Seguros del Estado v. Mutual Marine
Office, Inc., 344 F.3d 255, 261 (2d Cir.2003).
their motions to dismiss.
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| Filename | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017868.jpg |
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| OCR Confidence | 85.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
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| Indexed | 2026-02-04T16:33:17.425362 |