Holding the Jordan-based Arab Bank liable for damages caused to the victims of terror attacks could deal a blow to legitimate banking operations in the Middle East and could negatively affect American interests in the region, an attorney for the bank argued Tuesday before a federal appeals court.
But the panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that heard about 90 minutes of oral arguments in the long-running case Linde v. Arab Bank, 04-cv-2799, repeatedly questioned why they should rule on the arguments in the case considering that the parties have entered into a settlement agreement stipulating that the court’s ruling would end the litigation.
