New York: A woman widowed when her husband was killed at the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 is suing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia just two days after US Congress enacted legislation allowing Americans to sue foreign governments for allegedly playing a role in terrorist attacks on American soil.

Stephanie Ross DeSimone alleged the kingdom provided material support to al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, in a complaint filed Friday at a US court in Washington. Her suit is also filed on behalf of the couple's daughter. DeSimone was pregnant when Navy Commander Patrick Dunn was killed.

From left, President Barack Obama, Saudi Arabian King Salman, and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April. Credit:AP

Fifteen of the 19 men who hijacked airliners used in the attack were Saudi nationals. One jet struck the Pentagon, seat of the US military, two destroyed the World Trade Centre's twin towers in New York while another crashed in a Pennsylvania field as its passengers fought back against the hijackers.

A US commission that investigated the 2001 attacks said in a 2004 report that it "found no evidence that the Saudi government, as an institution, or senior officials within the Saudi government funded al-Qaeda". Long-classified portions of a congressional inquiry that were released in July found the hijackers may have had help from some Saudi officials.