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Extracted Text (OCR)
IN RE TERRORIST ATTACKS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
821
Cite as 349 F.Supp.2d_ 765 (S.D.N.Y. 2005)
company is not sufficient to establish gen-
eral personal jurisdiction over Mr. bin
Mahfouz. Bersch, 519 F.2d at 998; see
also Schenker, 2002 WL 1560788, at *8-5
(finding single bank account in United
States constituting small fraction of defen-
dant’s total assets is not a sufficient basis
for personal jurisdiction). Mr. bin Mah-
fouz’s motion to dismiss the Burnett com-
plaint as against him for lack of personal
jurisdiction is accordingly granted.
8. Saudi Binladin Group, Tariq Bin-
ladin, Omar Binladin, and Bakr
Binladin
The Ashton and Burnett complaints
name the Saudi Binladin Group (““SBG”) as
a Defendant. The Burnett complaint also
names Tariq Binladin, Omar Binladin, and
Bakr Binladin, Osama’s half-brothers, as
Defendants. In both actions, these Defen-
dants move to dismiss the complaint or for
a more definite statement.
Based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, SBG is
the successor to a construction company
founded by Mohammed Binladin, the fa-
ther of Osama bin Laden. Ashton Com-
plaint 1543; Burnett Complaint 1311. It
is now one of the largest engineering and
construction companies in the Arab world
and is managed by Osama bin Laden’s
half brothers, including defendants Bakr
Binladin, who runs SBG, and Tariq Binla-
din, who holds a position on the board.
Ashton Complaint 1545; Burnett Com-
plaint 1313. Tariq Binladin allegedly had
a prominent role at ITRO in 1990. Ashton
Complaint 1557; Burnett Complaint
1326. Osama bin Laden purportedly used
SBG to build an infrastructure in Afghani-
stan. Ashton Complaint 19 546, 547; Bur-
nett Complaint 11314316. After the So-
viets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989,
Osama bin Laden returned to work with
SBG in Jeddah. Ashton Complaint 1 548;
Burnett Complaint 1317. SBG allegedly
continued to support Osama bin Laden
after he relocated to Sudan in 1991. Ash-
ton Complaint 1548; Burnett Complaint
1317. For example, SBG, through two
subsidiaries allegedly supported Osama
bin Laden’s participation in the construc-
tion of the Tahaddi road and Port Sudan
Airport. Ashton Complaint 19550; 552,
553; Burnett Complaint 19319-3822.
Plaintiffs claim Osama bin Laden’s name
is still listed on SBG corporate records.
Ashton Complaint 1558; Burnett Com-
plaint 1329. Defendants dispute this and
argue he was formally removed from
SBG’s ownership documents in June 1993.
SBG’s Mem. in Supp. of Motion to Dismiss
Ashton Complaint at 2. Plaintiffs also
claim that Osama bin Laden never “broke”
with his family after he was exiled to
Sudan and that SBG continued to provide
him financial assistance and engineering
support. Ashton Complaint 1549; Bar-
nett Complaint 1318. Defendants also
dispute this statement and argue that
Bakr formally ostracized Osama from the
family and the company in a February
1994 statement. SBG’s Mem. in Supp. of
Motion to Dismiss Ashton Complaint at 2.
SBG “sheltered and directly supported
operatives of the al Qaeda terrorist organi-
zation.” Ashton Complaint 1555; Burnett
Complaint 1324. Mohammad Jamal Khal-
ifa, allegedly a key al Qaeda operative, was
taken in by a branch of SBG, the Mo-
hammed Bin Laden Organization. Ashton
Complaint 1555; Burnett Complaint 1324.
The Mohammed Bin Laden Organization is
allegedly a wholly-owned subsidiary of
SBG and its board members include defen-
dants Bakr, Tariq, and Omar Binladin.
Ashton Complaint 1556; Burnett Com-
plaint 91325. Khalifa listed the Mo-
hammed Bin Laden Organization address
on his visa application. Ashton Complaint
1555; Burnett Complaint 1324. Addition-
ally, U.S.-designated terrorist Yassin Ab-
dullah al-Kadi was allegedly introduced to
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| Filename | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017886.jpg |
| File Size | 0.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 85.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 3,719 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04T16:33:21.482098 |