Judge Allows Suits Against Bank for Paying Bombers' Relatives

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Sept 3, 2005

A federal judge in Brooklyn yesterday upheld the validity of three lawsuits accusing Arab Bank, a Jordan -based bank with a branch in Manhattan, of promoting Palestinian suicide bombers by funneling Saudi money to bombers' families.

The judge, Nina Gershon of United States District Court, denied almost all of Arab Bank's motion to dismiss the litigation, allowing survivors of the bombings and victims' families to pursue suits seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

The suits claim Arab Bank aided terrorism by acting as the administrator of an "insurance plan" by the Saudi Committee in Support of the Intifada Al Quds, which paid $5,300 to the families of Palestinian bombers.

The plaintiffs are United States citizens.

Judge Gershon rejected Arab Bank's contention that the lawsuits should fail because it had no intention of promoting terrorism and because the plaintiffs could not link the bank's actions to their injuries or their relatives' deaths.

"It really opens the way for all of these American terror victims to have their day in court," said Mark Werbner, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

An Arab Bank lawyer did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

American regulators announced last month that Arab Bank would pay a $24 million civil fine for inadequate controls against money laundering at its New York branch. The Central Bank of Jordan, which oversees the operations of Arab Bank, announced earlier this year that the branch would be closed.