Insurers Suing Al Qaida, Saudis, Others For $300 B
Five insurance groups filed federal lawsuits today, seeking to recover more than $300 billion for losses from the 9/11 attacks, in an action that listed among the defendants Al Qaida, Saudi Arabia and four other nations which the United States identifies as states sponsoring terrorism.
The action was brought in U.S. District Court in Manhattan with a companion lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. by Chubb, American Re, Zurich American, One Beacon and Crum & Forster.
An announcement by the Cozen OConnor law firm, which is representing the insurers, said the action seeks to recover triple damages, which a member of the firm said includes "tens of billions" in damages for 412 wrongful death and injury claims from insureds. It encompasses $3.5 billion in property damage loss that was paid or reserved for, and $500 million in workers compensation benefits.
Besides Al Qaida and Saudi Arabia, the defendants listed are the Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Iraq and the Syrian Arab Republic. Also named are organizations and supporters of terrorism including Osama Bin Laden.
Elliott R. Feldman, a co-counsel on the case in the Cozen OConnor Philadelphia office, said the U.S. Treasury Departments Office of Foreign Asset Control has blocked various assets in this country held by "sponsors of terrorism" and "there are collectively several billions of dollars in blocked assets and many billions to be identified."
He noted that the anti-terrorism legislation last year had given private victims of terrorist acts the ability to sue terrorism sponsors and obtain a judgment that can be satisfied through the seizure of frozen assets.
"President Bush several months ago set aside $300 million in assets frozen from Iraq to satisfy judgments obtained by P.O.W.s of the Gulf War," he said.
With the exception of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Feldman said, all of the named countries appear on one of three State Department lists as official state sponsors of terrorism.
Besides the International Terrorism Act, the law firm said it was bringing its case under the Torture Victim Protection Act, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Alien Tort Claims Act, Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act, wrongful death statutes and survival statutes, among others.
Stephen A. Cozen, the lead counsel for the suits, said in a statement that the insurance companies by filing suit were "joining the global fight against terrorism."
"As President Bush has stated, we must close down these terrorist operatives by attacking them from all angles, and especially the purse strings that finance their future."
Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, September 15, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.
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