The letter comes as the commerce secretary plans to accompany President Trump to Saudi Arabia this week as part of a weeklong trip to the Middle East.
The families of some of the victims killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks who worked for the bond trading company of Howard Lutnick, now the commerce secretary, are urging him to help extradite a Saudi Arabian national potentially involved in the attacks as he prepares to engage in economic talks with the kingdom.
In a letter to Mr. Lutnick, obtained by The New York Times, the families representing the hundreds of employees at the company, Cantor Fitzgerald, who died in the attack cited recently unsealed evidence showing that Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi intelligence agent, had ties to the attackers.
Mr. Lutnick is himself a relative of a victim of the terrorist attack; his brother, who also worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, died. And Cantor, whose offices spanned the 101st to the 105th floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower, lost more employees than any other firm affected by the attacks.
The letter comes as Mr. Lutnick plans to accompany President Trump to Saudi Arabia this week as part of a weeklong trip to the Middle East. The families urged Mr. Lutnick to make the case that Mr. al-Bayoumi be brought to justice in any discussions about strengthening the United States’ economic partnership with the kingdom. The relatives wrote that his appointment “gives us renewed hope” to determine the full truth about the attacks and who was responsible.
“You are in a unique position to emphasize that any such partnership must begin with accountability and justice, ensuring that Omar al-Bayoumi is handed over to the United States to face justice in an American court,” read the letter, which had more than 150 signatories.
“This issue transcends politics; it is a matter of principle,” the letter continued. “It is about honoring the lives we lost, and whether the country that sent them to their tragic deaths will ever be held accountable.”