Court Awards US Victims More Than US$6 Billion for 1989 Libyan Terrorist Bombing of French Airliner That Killed 170 People Over African Desert

Washington (ots/PRNewswire) -

A federal judge has ordered the Government of Libya and six of its
officials to pay a total of approximately US$6 billion in damages
arising from the mid-air suitcase bombing of a French-operated UTA
Flight 772, DC-10 wide-body jet. The 1989 attack killed 170 people
from Europe, Africa and the United States and was one of the
deadliest terrorist events in commercial aviation history before
September 11, 2001. It came only nine months after a similar suitcase
bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed
270 people.

The case stems from the September 19, 1989 bombing of UTA Flight
772, which was flying from N'djamena, Chad to Paris, France when a
suitcase bomb exploded in the cargo hold at an altitude of 35,000
feet. The aircraft crashed into the Tenere Desert in northeastern
Niger, killing all 170 passengers and crew, including seven
Americans. Represented by the Washington law firm Crowell & Moring
LLP, the families of the Americans brought suit in federal court,
along with the U.S. firm that owned the aircraft, pursuant to a 1996
law that stripped terrorist states such as Libya of their immunity
from suit. Among the seven Americans killed on the flight was Bonnie
Pugh, the wife of then U.S. Ambassador to Chad, Robert Pugh.

Stuart H. Newberger, the lead lawyer for the victim families and a
senior partner at Crowell & Moring, said, "This award proves that the
rule of law will always prevail over state-sponsored terrorism. At
the end of the day, all 170 victims of UTA Flight 772 will be
remembered and honored by this decision. Indeed, it is because of
rulings like this that Libya has rejected terrorism and re-joined the
civilized nations of the world."

Background

Shortly after the UTA 772 tragedy, the Libyan regime, under the
leadership of its leader Colonel Muammar Qaddaffi, came under
suspicion as the bombing occurred so soon after the Lockerbie
tragedy. Following several years of intense and detailed
investigation, leading French terrorism investigator Magistrate Judge
Jean-Louis Bruguiere, with the assistance of the FBI and other law
enforcement agencies, issued a detailed report concluding that Libya
was directly responsible for the bombing.

Subsequently, in 1999, a French criminal court convicted in
absentia six Libyan officials for their direct role in the UTA 772
bombing. The six convicted officials remain in Libya, which has
refused to extradite them to France.

Over the last few years, Libya has voluntarily paid several
hundred million dollars in damages to the European and African
victims of the UTA 772 bombing, mostly through the Qaddaffi
Charitable Foundation, which is headed by Saif Qaddafi, the leader's
Western-educated son. It also paid almost US$2 billion to settle the
Pan Am 103/Lockerbie case, a move which helped Libya's efforts to
end United Nations sanctions of the country. The UTA 772 case
decided today in Washington was brought separately from the French
proceedings and settlements because the U.S. victims have the right
to sue state sponsors of terrorism as well as government officials --
a right which the European and African victims do not have.

Court Order

The court order issued today was the result of a case first filed
in the Washington, D.C. federal court in 2002. In April of last year,
after several years of legal delays by Libya, U.S. District Judge
Henry H. Kennedy ruled that Libya was directly responsible for the
UTA 772 bombing, basing his decision on detailed and mostly
undisputed evidence from both the French criminal case as well as
information provided by the U.S. Department of State. The U.S.
Government has supported the U.S. victims in the case and through
quiet diplomatic efforts with the Libyan Government.

In August of last year, Judge Kennedy conducted a three-day trial
to determine the amount of damages Libya and its officials must pay
the families and the owner of the aircraft. Significantly, this is
the first case ever decided in which the terrorist state appeared in
court and had attorneys defend the case through final judgment.
Libya's decision to appear in court and defend the case was based in
part on its well-publicized abandonment of terrorism and nuclear
weapon development, as well its desire to engage the United States
and the European Union on political and commercial levels. It was on
that basis that President Bush removed Libya from the "state sponsor
of terrorism list" in 2006 and restored diplomatic relations for the
first time in decades, a decision which followed earlier actions to
lift United Nations' sanctions and other commercial restrictions on
the Qaddaffi regime.

The rapid improvement in U.S.-Libya relations was demonstrated
just this month when Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Mohammed
Shalgam became the first high-ranking Libyan official to visit
Washington in over 36 years. In addition to meetings with Secretary
of State Condoleeza Rice, Shalgam met with a number of CEOs from some
of the largest U.S. companies doing business with Libya. Commerce
between U.S. companies and Libya amounted to several billion dollars
just last year, an amount that is likely to increase greatly. As the
direct result of the president's lifting of economic sanctions, most
major U.S. oil companies are now paying billions of dollars in fees
and royalties directly to the Libyan Government for oil and gas
concessions, and Libya itself is spending hundreds of millions of
dollars in the U.S. for equipment, materials, and services.

John Metzger, a member of the law firm McDonald Hopkins and
counsel for Interlease, Inc., the American firm that owned the DC-10
aircraft, said, "The day of accountability for Libya has been a long
time coming. We are grateful that the court has determined that Libya
committed this terrorist act. While nothing will bring back these
loved ones, this decision makes clear that terrorism is not only
abhorrent, but hits the terrorist state where it hurts -- in their
pocketbook."

Libya has not announced whether it will appeal the court order,
but will have until February 25 in which to make that decision. It
has already acknowledged to President Bush that it will honor U.S.
court judgments as part of the new relationship with the United
States. In the absence of a settlement of the judgment, the growing
commerce between Libya and these U.S. companies will be subject to
compulsory court attachment to satisfy the award.

To read a copy of the U.S. District Court decision, visit the full
release at www.crowell.com/UTAFlight772.

Web site: http://www.crowell.com
http://www.crowell.com/UTAFlight772

ots Originaltext: Crowell & Moring LLP
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

$story.getcontactHeadline()
Nicole Quigley of Crowell & Moring LLP, +1-202-624-2849,
nquigley@crowell.com