Compensation for USS Cole families

Nearly nine years after 17 sailors were killed in a terrorist attack on the USS Cole, a judge has ordered New York banks to release US$13.4 million in frozen Sudanese accounts to family members of the victims.

US District Judge Kimba Wood issued the order last week, ending a six-year quest by 59 spouses, parents and children of the victims to hold the Sudanese Government accountable for the deaths.

The families claimed in a lawsuit filed in Norfolk, Virginia, that Sudan provided support, including money and training, that allowed al Qaeda suicide bombers to attack the Navy destroyer at a refuelling stop at the Yemen port of Aden on October 12, 2000.

The suicide bombers were in a small boat and tore a gaping 12m hole in the destroyer.