As is probably to be expected, there are rather few details below on what occurred to motivate this development. However, “the suit is free to be refiled and certainly similar suits may be filed by others.”
An update on this story. “Insurance giant withdraws 9/11 lawsuit against Saudi Arabia,” from the Daily Mail, September 21:
An insurance firm has withdrawn its lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, which had claimed the country funded the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
A division of Lloyd’s of London had filed documents in a U.S. court on September 8 demanding the return of $215million compensation it paid victims.
According to the earlier report linked above the lawsuit stated: “Absent the sponsorship of al-Qaida’s material sponsors and supporters, including the defendants named herein, al-Qaida would not have possessed the capacity to conceive, plan and execute the September 11th attacks”
But the lawsuit has now been dropped.
Attorney Stephen Cozen of law firm Cozen O’Connor, which represents Lloyd’s, told Insurance Journal that he cannot comment on why Lloyd’s decided to drop the case less than two weeks after filing the complaint.
Mr Cozen told the journal: ‘We were instructed to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice. That of course means that the suit is free to be refiled and certainly similar suits may be filed by others.’
Lloyd’s is voluntarily dismissing its lawsuit ‘without prejudice,’ meaning the motion seeks to close the case without precluding the possibility of renewal at a later date, the court clerk’s office said.
The lawsuit – filed in Johnston, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines flight 93 crashed on 9/11, named nine defendants, including a leading member of the oil-rich state’s royal family.
The defendants also included “Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Saudi Joint Relief Committee for Kosovo and Chechnya, Saudi Red Crescent Society, the Saudi-based National Commerce Bank, Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Co. and three Saudi citizens connected to the organizations.”
Saudi Arabia has always denied claims that Osama bin Laden’s organisation received official financial and practical support from his homeland.
Attorney Stephen Cozen of law firm Cozen O’Connor, which represents Lloyd’s, told Insurance Journal that he cannot comment on why Lloyd’s decided to drop the case less than two weeks after filing the complaint.
Mr Cozen told the journal: ‘We were instructed to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice. That of course means that the suit is free to be refiled and certainly similar suits may be filed by others.’
Lloyd’s is voluntarily dismissing its lawsuit ‘without prejudice,’ meaning the motion seeks to close the case without precluding the possibility of renewal at a later date, the court clerk’s office said.
The lawsuit – filed in Johnston, Pennsylvania, where United Airlines flight 93 crashed on 9/11, named nine defendants, including a leading member of the oil-rich state’s royal family….