BEIJING - U.S. Congress' overriding President Barack Obama's veto of a bill allowing Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia not only has drawn criticism from the kingdom, but also is considered by many as a move that could bring negative impacts.
U.S. Congress voted Wednesday to override Obama's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA.
The bill, which has now become law, grants an exception to the legal principle of sovereign immunity in cases of terrorism on U.S. soil.
Survivors and families of the Sept. 11, 2001 victims have been trying to sue the Saudi royal family, Saudi banks and charities in U.S. courts, on the grounds that the Saudi government provided financial support for terrorism.
The families' efforts have largely been stymied, in part because of a 1976 law that gives foreign nations some immunity from lawsuits in American courts.
Now with JASTA enacted into law, the families are allowed to move forward with a case they filed in 2003 against Saudi Arabia in a New York federal court.
Saudi Arabia was home to 15 of the 19 al-Qaida hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington D.C. area and Pennsylvania. Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the terror attacks, was also a Saudi national. (Xinhua)