The Trump administration is siding with Sudan against USS Cole survivors, NPR is reporting.
Seventeen people were killed and 42 were injured in 2000 when al-Qaida suicide bombers attacked the Cole while it was being refueled in a harbor in Yemen. Survivors and families of the dead sued Sudan, claiming that nation provided material support for the attack.
They were awarded $315 million but now the case is before the U.S. Supreme Court, where the administration has argued the damages awarded in the case should not stand, NPR reported.
The U.S. is siding with Sudan – one of the nations on President Donald Trump’s travel ban list – claiming that notice of the original lawsuit was delivered to the wrong address, according to NPR. The notice had been sent to the Embassy of Sudan in Washington, but officials claim it should have been sent to the foreign ministry in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.
The U.S. maintains that if Sudan can be served notice of lawsuits at embassies, the U.S. could also be held responsible for notices sent to its embassies.
“We came here for accountability, and we wouldn't expect our government to oppose its citizens receiving justice and holding those accountable for a terrorist attack," said Jamal Gunn as he left the Supreme Court on Wednesday. Gunn’s brother was killed on the Cole.
And Kannon Shanmugam, who arguing for the Cole victims, said ruling for Sudan would force his clients to start their lawsuit over, NBC News reported.
Rick Harrison, who was injured in the attack, said it "would be ridiculous" to start over again
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