U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy ordered Libya and six of its officials yesterday to pay roughly $6 billion in damages to the families of Americans killed in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner. The case stems from the suitcase bombing of UTA Flight 772, which caused the airplane to crash in central Niger on its way to Paris from Chad, killing all 170 passengers and crew on board. Seven Americans were on the flight.
Crowell & Moring litigation partner Stuart Newberger was the lead lawyer for the American victims’ families. “It is because of rulings like this that Libya has rejected terrorism and re-joined the civilized nations of the world,” said Newberger in a statement.
The case was first filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in 2002. Kennedy ruled in April 2007 that Libya was directly responsible for the bombing, basing his decision on evidence from both the French criminal case and the U.S. State Department. Then in August, Kennedy held a three-day trial to determine damages. Libya and its officials must pay the families and the owner of the aircraft. Significantly, Crowell & Moring says this is the first case in which the terrorist state appeared in court and had attorneys defend the case through final judgment. Libya has not said whether it will appeal the court order, but has until Feb. 25 to decide, the statement added. Washington lawyer Arman Dabiri, name partner at the Law Office of Arman Dabiri & Associates represented Libya and the six officials. Dabiri was unavailable for comment.
The bombing of UTA Flight 772 came only nine months the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. The government of Libya agreed to settle that case for $2.7 billion.
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