Saudi Arabia has ways to hit back at 9/11 lawsuit effort
By AYA BATRAWY
Sep. 28, 2016 5:42 PM EDT
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia and its allies are warning that U.S. legislation allowing the kingdom to be sued for the 9/11 attacks will have negative repercussions.
The kingdom maintains an arsenal of tools to retaliate with, including curtailing official contacts, pulling billions of dollars from the U.S. economy, and persuading its close allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council to scale back counterterrorism cooperation, investments and U.S. access to important regional air bases.
"This should be clear to America and to the rest of the world: When one GCC state is targeted unfairly, the others stand around it," said Abdulkhaleq Abdullah, an Emirati Gulf specialist and professor of political science at United Arab Emirates University.
"All the states will stand by Saudi Arabia in every way possible," he said.
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http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/338afa8b7eb54fe690534b43080570ff/saudi-arabia-has-ways-hit-back-911-lawsuit-effort
