Sept. 11 families seek answers in secret pages

NEW YORK — Fifteen years after the attacks that killed her husband, Lorie Van Auken thinks she still hasn’t been told the whole truth about 9/11.

She wants to know what’s in 28 classified pages locked away in a basement room of the U.S. Capitol. They describe investigative leads about “specific sources of foreign support” for the terrorists and may shed light on possible Saudi connections.

The secrecy “gnaws at you every day,” says Van Auken. “Fifteen years is long enough. We want to stop guessing.”

She soon may. President Barack Obama has hinted that at least portions of the 28 pages may be released shortly, amid growing calls to reveal what some see as a hidden chapter in the explanation of Sept. 11.

Victims’ relatives say they and the public deserve full transparency about the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil, and some argue that continued secrecy raises troubling questions about who or what is being shielded, and why.

Some Sept. 11 families expect the pages’ contents will help them sue the Saudi Arabian government, since a former lawmaker has said the 2002 document casts suspicion that the terrorists got financial help from the kingdom, though U.S. investigations later concluded otherwise.

But the push to unveil the pages stirs mixed feelings among victims’ families, and sometimes even within them.

Diane Massaroli, who lost her husband, is convinced responsibility for 9/11 extends beyond al-Qaida.