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Lloyd's of London syndicate drops 9/11 lawsuit against Saudi groups

Posted On: Sep. 21, 2011 12:00 AM CST

Lloyd's of London syndicate drops 9/11 lawsuit against Saudi groups

JOHNSTOWN, Pa.—A Lloyd's of London syndicate has dropped without explanation its suit seeking more than $215 million from the government, banks and charities in Saudi Arabia.

The lawsuit was filed Sept. 8 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Johnstown, Pa.

In it, Lloyd's syndicate 3500 sought to recover the amount it says was paid on behalf of aviation and other policyholders to families of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the U.S.

The lawsuit alleged that without sponsorship from the defendants, al-Qaida would not have had the capacity to plan and execute the attacks.

Cozen O'Connor P.C., the law firm representing the syndicate, confirmed that the syndicate dropped the action, but noted that it could be refiled later.

“We were instructed to voluntarily dismiss the action without prejudice,” Stephen A. Cozen, chairman of the Philadelphia-based firm, said in an emailed statement. “That means it can be refiled, and that similarly situated parties can file identical lawsuits in this and other venues. We have been asked to make no other comment and will not.”

Defendants in the case were listed as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi High Commission for Relief of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Saudi Joint Relief Committee for Kosovo and Chechnya, Saudi Red Crescent Society, National Commercial Bank, Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Co., Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Sheikh Sulaiman bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Rajhi and Yassin al-Qadi.