Lawyers for the victims of the September 11 attacks said they have amassed new evidence that will back their claims that Saudi Arabia "directly and knowingly" helped the hijackers.

They say their case is now boosted by a sworn statement from the so-called 20^th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui.

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The lawyers highlighted an interview they had with Moussaoui at the maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado.  In that interview, Moussaoui revealed a 1990 Al Qaeda plot to shoot down Air Force One and assassinate former U.S. President Bill Clinton. 

Moussaoui said the plot was assisted by a top Saudi Embassy employee.  Moussaoui also claimed there were direct dealings between senior Saudi officials and Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

But the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington was quick to deny this, saying Saudi Arabia was not involved in the deadly 2001 attacks.  It added, Moussaoui's testimony come from a "deranged criminal" and there's no evidence to back them.

The lawyers filed documents before the Manhattan federal court, insisting Saudi Arabia had supported bin Laden prior to the deadly attacks - a claim that they have repeatedly made in the past.

But the lawyers said, this time, the evidence is compelling.

Reports from the U.S. and foreign intelligence groups, government reports and testimonies from Al Qaeda members, all make up an "expansive volume" of new evidence, now in the lawyers' possession.

They said the evidence that will be released soon, including congressional reports citing Saudi's involvement in the attack.  It also contains an 80,000-page document of an FBI probe into Saudi nationals who allegedly supported the 9/11 hijackers in Florida.

The lawyers also cited sworn statements from 9/11 Commissioners supporting claims "there was a direct line" between 9/11 terrorists and the government of Saudi Arabia.

In a statement, the Saudi Embassy further said that the 9/11 attacks had been the "most intensely investigated crime in history, and the findings show no involvement by Saudi government or its officials". 

The Embassy also criticized Moussaoui saying he has no credibility, and that his only goal was to get attention in a bid to undermine Saudi-US relations.

Moussaoui was arrested in 2001 after employees of a Minnesota flight school got suspicious when he wanted to learn to fly a Boeing 747 without a pilot's license.

Tags9/11 attacks, hijackers, terror, Al-qaeda, osama bin laden