Smoke billows from the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York after aeroplanes crashed into them. Picture: AP Photo/Gene Boyars
PRESIDENT Barack Obama says the top-ranking US intelligence official is reviewing classified material in a September 11 report that families of attack victims and some politicians are demanding be made public.
Several members of the House and Senate, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, have joined 9/11 families in pressuring for declassification of 28 pages that are part of government documents compiled on the 9/11 attack amid speculation of a possible role by Saudi Arabia.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the attack.
Obama will decide whether to declassify the 28 pages of sealed documents.
In an interview with CBS’s Charlie Rose, Obama was asked if had read the 28 pages.
“I have a sense of what’s in there,” he replied.
Obama also revealed that James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, “has been going through this” to ensure that whatever is made public does not damage US national security interests.
“My understanding is that he’s about to complete that process,” the president said.
US President Barack Obama is accompanied by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as he tours the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in 2014. Picture: Jewel Samad / AFPSource:AFP
Former US Senator Robert Graham, who helped write the report that includes the 28 redacted pages, recently told CBS’s 60 Minutes the secret material could reveal possible Saudi backing for the men who hijacked aeroplanes, flying two into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon.
A third hijacked plane crashed on September 11, 2001, in western Pennsylvania.
Graham, a Democrat, declined to cite any details on the portion of the report that remains classified.
Obama also voiced concerns about a legislative move to allow victim families to bring lawsuits against other countries believed to have provided support for attacks.
“This is a matter of how generally the United States approaches our interactions with other countries,” he said.
Video still of hijacked commercial aircraft about to fly into second tower of World Trade Centre.Source:News Corp Australia
“If we open up the possibility that individuals and the United States can routinely start suing other governments, then we are also opening up the United States to being continually sued by individuals in other countries.”
Material from the interview was to be broadcast on CBS This Morning and PBS, as well as CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.
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