NORFOLK, Va. More than six years after terrorists bombed the USS Cole in Yemen, the families of the 17 sailors killed in the blast are heading to court to try to prove the attack could not have happened without the government of Sudan's help.
Lest we forget
The families' lawsuit against the African nation was to go to trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk, where the now-repaired Navy destroyer is based. "Sudan's material support ... including continuous flow of funding, money, weapons, logistical support, diplomatic passports and religious blessing, was crucial in enabling the attack on the USS Cole," lawyers for the families said in court papers outlining their case. Sudan's lawyers declined to argue the merits of the case during pretrial hearings. Asked Monday whether Sudan would continue that stand, attorney Carl D. Gray said, "You'll find out tomorrow."
Apparently the check from Al-Qaeda hasn't cleared Gray's personal account
The families' lawyers intend to prove that Sudan has given safe haven to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda Muslim terrorist network since 1991 long before Yemeni operatives blasted a 40-foot hole in the side of the Cole in Yemen's port of Aden on Oct. 12, 2000. They also hope to show that: the operatives were trained at camps Sudan permitted Al Qaeda to operate within its borders; Sudan's military provided Al Qaeda with at least four crates of weapons and explosives for terrorist activities in Yemen; bin Laden and Sudan's government owned businesses that provided cover for the procurement of explosives, weapons and chemicals; and Sudan gave Al Qaeda diplomatic pouches to ship explosives and weapons internationally without being searched.
Note to CIA Wet Teams, visit Sudan
The plaintiffs contend Sudan's embassy in New York gave logistical assistance to the bombers of the World Trade Center in 1993, but court documents included no details of the allegation. The United States has listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993. Andrew C. Hall, an attorney for the families, said he expects the trial to last two to three days, with testimony by six family members and one or two experts. Lawyers also will give the judge depositions by about 50 people, including R. James Woolsey, former CIA director under President Bill Clinton.
The families are seeking $105 million in damages to be shared by 59 spouses, parents and children of the bombing victims. Potential damages could be reduced, though, to not more than $35 million U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar has said he is inclined to apply the Death on the High Seas Act, which permits compensation for economic losses but not for pain and suffering. Sudan had sought to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that too much time had passed between the bombing and the filing of the lawsuit in 2004, but Doumar rejected their request. |
A federal judge said Wednesday that Sudan is responsible for the bombing of the USS Cole but he needs more time to determine damages for the families of the 17 sailors killed when terrorists bombed the ship in 2000. "There is substantial evidence in this case presented by the expert testimony that the government of Sudan induced the particular bombing of the Cole by virtue of prior actions of the government of Sudan," U.S. District Judge Robert G. Doumar said.