Giuliani rejects Saudi prince's $10M check; Lawsuit accuses bin Laden, Taliban of murder
By Deepti Hajela, Associated Press, 10/12/01
NEW YORK -- A day after the mayor rejected his $10 million donation, a Saudi prince insisted Friday that U.S. policies regarding Palestinians were partly to blame for the World Trade Center attack.
In a news release issued in Saudi Arabia, billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal said the Palestinian issue "must be of more central concern in order to produce a just solution to the Middle East crisis."
"While Prince Alwaleed said in his statement that he strongly condemned terrorism, his position on the Palestinian issue and U.S. foreign policy did not please Mayor Giuliani and several U.S. media organizations," the news release said.
During a visit to ground zero Thursday, Alwaleed called the Sept. 11 terrorist attack "a tremendous crime" and handed Mayor Rudolph Giuliani a $10 million check for relief efforts.
At the same time, the prince's publicist issued a statement criticizing U.S. support for Israel.
"At times like this one, we must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack," Alwaleed's statement said. "I believe the government of the United States of America should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance toward the Palestinian cause."
Giuliani had a harsh response to the statement.
"There is no moral equivalent for this attack," Giuliani said. "The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification when they slaughtered 5,000, 6,000 innocent people. Not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem."
Sunny Mindel, the mayor's communications director, told The Associated Press: "We are not going to accept the check -- period."
The prince, an outspoken member of the Saudi royal family, is a major investor in American companies and was No. 6 on Forbes magazine's 2001 list of the world's richest men, with a worth of $20 billion.
Meanwhile, a lawyer representing the family of a man killed in the attack said Thursday that money to help the victims' families should be extracted from the terrorists themselves.
Attorney James E. Beasley filed a $5 million lawsuit on behalf of the unidentified mother of four, accusing alleged terror mastermind Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaida network and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban of mass murder.
He said substantial assets should be available for the victims' families because the United States froze the terrorists' assets and accounts.
"Her grief is overwhelming and whatever can be done to see that there is true justice for herself and her children, should be done," Beasley said. His was the first lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court and likely not the last.
Officials say 4,776 people are still missing in the wreckage of the twin towers; 442 people have been confirmed dead and 384 of those have been identified.
Around the city Thursday, memorial services were held to remember the victims of the attacks exactly one month earlier. At the World Trade Center, rescue workers stopped for a brief service and a moment of silence.
157 dead on planes
