A judge heard arguments but won't immediately decide if Saudi Arabia should remain a defendant in lawsuits brought by relatives of people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Lawyers for relatives of 9/11 victims say that a group of extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia gained influence in the Saudi government and aided the 9/11 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Fifteen of the 19 Sept. 11 attackers were Saudis.

In lawsuits, hundreds of victims’ relatives and injured survivors, along with insurance companies and businesses, claim that employees of the Saudi government directly and knowingly assisted the attack’s airplane hijackers and plotters and fueled al-Qaida’s development into a terrorist organization by funding charities that supported them.