U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered Libya and six of its officials Tuesday to pay roughly $6 billion in damages to the families of Americans killed in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner. The case stems from the suitcase bombing of UTA Flight 772, which caused the airplane to crash in central Niger on its way to Paris from Chad, killing all 170 passengers and crew on board. Seven Americans were on the flight.
Crowell & Moring litigation partner Stuart Newberger was the lead lawyer for the American victims’ families. “It is because of rulings like this that Libya has rejected terrorism and re-joined the civilized nations of the world,” said Newberger in a statement.
