Wednesday, September 12, 2007

US JUDGE FINES IRAN FOR 1983 BOMBING

Iran must pay $2.65 billion to the family members of the 241 U.S. servicemen killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, a federal judge ruled in Washington on Friday, calling it the largest-ever such judgment against another country.

Iran has been blamed for supporting the militant group Hezbollah, which carried out the suicide bombing in Beirut. It was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Hundreds of people crowded a federal courtroom to hear Friday's ruling. "These individuals, whose hearts and souls were forever broken, waited patiently for nearly a quarter century for justice to be done," U.S District Judge Royce C. Lamberth said as families embraced.

The crowd, many of them weeping, stood and erupted into applause as Lamberth left the bench. The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and estates to try to collect Iranian assets from various sources around the world.

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