WASHINGTON, July 1 (RAPSI) – The US Supreme Court has left intact a lower court’s ruling that dismissed the claims filed by the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York against several Middle Eastern banks, which they accused of indirectly supporting Islamic militants.

The plaintiffs, who include the relatives of those who died or were injured at the World Trade Center, are suing several banks, charities and financial institutions, including Dar Al-Maal Al-Islami Trust, Dallah Al Baraka Group LLC, Al Rajhi and Saudi American Bank (Samba Financial Group), as well as four of Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers and the family construction business, the Saudi Binladin Group.

The federal appeals court in New York dismissed much of the case in April 2013, ruling that the plaintiffs’ attorneys failed to provide sufficient evidence of a direct connection between the above financial institutions and the militants’ actions.

On September 11, 2001 terrorists hijacked and directed commercial passenger planes at the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and at the Pentagon. The death toll was around 3,000. On May 2, 2011, US Navy SEALS killed the alleged mastermind of the attack and al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, at his Abbottabad compound 60 kilometers from the capital of Pakistan.