Al-Jubeir lobbies US lawmakers to change 9/11 law

Saudi foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir has been lobbying lawmakers in the United States to amend a law allowing family members of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks to sue the kingdom, he said on Sunday, according to news agencies.

Al-Jubeir told reporters that he had just returned from a long visit to the U.S., in which he tried to persuade legislators that there should be changes made to the law.

The U.S. Congress gave a majority vote in September to override President Barack Obama’s vote against the law, called the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).

The law allows survivors of the attack and relatives of terrorism victims to pursue cases against foreign governments in U.S. federal courts and to ask for compensation if those governments are found responsible for such attacks on U.S. land.