Barack Obama vetoes bill allowing 9/11 victims sue Saudi Arabia

US President Barack Obama has vetoed a bill that would have allowed the families of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, fearing that the move could have serious implications for America’s national interests. The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) bill, passed by both the chambers of the Republican controlled Congress, would have jeopardised the long standing international principles regarding sovereignty and would have made adverse impact with US interests and nationals overseas, Mr Obama said on Friday.

He stressed that the bill departs from longstanding standards and practice under US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and threatens to strip all foreign governments of immunity from judicial process in the country based solely upon allegations by private litigants that a foreign government’s overseas conduct had some role or connection to a group or person that carried out a terrorist attack inside the United States.

“This would invite consequential decisions to be made based upon incomplete information and risk having different courts reaching different conclusions about the culpability of individual foreign governments and their role in terrorist activities directed against the United States,” Mr Obama said.

The US President said JASTA would upset longstanding international principles regarding sovereign immunit, putting in place rules that, if applied globally, could have serious implications.