Cole Families Can Sue the Sudan
YT: In a surprising decision, district judge Robert Doumar, in Norfolk Virginia today said “there was enough evidence the Sudanese government co-operated with al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden, to allow the lawsuit to go forward.”
The victims of the Seventeen US sailors, who died in the USS Cole bombing in the Port of Aden in October 12, 2000, are suing the government of the Sudan for US $ 105 million for allegedly facilitating the movement of terrorists who were involved in the bomb attack. With a guilty verdict, the victims’ families expect the US government to pay them out of frozen assets of the Sudanese Government held with it.
The suit also says bin Laden and Sudan operated joint businesses and a bank that provided financing for the Cole attack.
The hearing is scheduled for March 7, 2006, but the families’ lawyer suggests that there will probably be a delay.
“Sudan provided no support for the bombing of the Cole,” said Washington lawyer Knox Bemis, before being cut off by Doumar, who questioned the bank connection and why Sudan would allow operatives to come in and out of the country freely.
Nice move. There’s a few other people they can sue in Yemen. Theres a document admitted in Yemeni court that details Yemeni goverment complicity. More on the Sudan ruling here.
