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Today, 21 November 2009

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A US federal judge on Friday found Iran liable for the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 241 troops, calling the attack an act "of unspeakable horror" that had left an indelible imprint on the lives of those affected by it.

The ruling by US District Judge Royce Lamberth appeared to step up pressure on the Islamic republic, coming as the Bush administration expressed "serious unhappiness" about Tehran's alleged harbouring of al-Qaeda operatives and its meddling in the affairs of US-occupied Iraq.

"The court concludes that the defendants, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security, are jointly and severally liable to the plaintiffs for the compensatory and punitive damages," Lamberth wrote.

Suit brought by families of the dead and the injured

The suit was brought by family members of the dead Marines as well as those wounded in the October 23, 1983, attack blamed on the radical Islamic group Hezbollah.

The Marines were killed when a 19-tonne explosives-laden truck, disguised as a water delivery vehicle, rammed through protective barricades at the compound entrance and detonated in front of the barracks, demolishing the building.

Court papers described the blast as "the largest non-nuclear explosion that had ever been detonated on the face of the Earth."

US troops had been deployed in Lebanon earlier that year as part of a UN-sponsored multinational peacekeeping force in hopes of separating conflicting parties in the Lebanese civil war and bringing it to an end.

Compensatory damages yet to be determined

Lamberth said the justice system will not be able to heal the pain of hundreds of Americans who lost their loved ones as a result of the attack, but he insisted the court could try to achieve "some small measure of justice for its survivors”.

The amount of punitive and compensatory damages will be established later on an individual basis, but plaintiffs' attorney Thomas Fay said they were likely to reach a total of $2.3-billion.

"We are really pleased by the decision," Fay told AFP. "For the first time the families have seen some vindication. More than anything else the families want terrorism to stop."

Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement

Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in this and other terrorist acts.

But US intelligence information, expert analysis of the explosive and testimony by a former Hezbollah member have convinced the court that Tehran had a hand in the operation.

According to the US government, Iran spent up to $150-million financing radical Islamic organisations in the Middle East, including Hezbollah, between 1983 and 1988.

Moreover, former deputy chief of naval operation Admiral James Lyons testified that about a month before the bombing, US intelligence had intercepted a message from Tehran to Iranian Ambassador to Syria Ali Akbar Mohtashemi.

It contained an order to contact the leader of the Lebanese-based group Islamic Amal, Hussein Musawi, and have him instigate "a spectacular action against the United States Marines," according to Lyons.

An ex-Hezbollah operative, who gave his videotaped deposition under the pseudonym of "Mahmoud," said he was aware that Ambassador Mohtashemi had relayed these instructions to his contact man in Lebanon known as Katani, and Katani soon took part in a meeting in the Lebanese city of Baalbek attended by Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

"They met and adopted the operation against the Marines and the French barracks at the same time," Mahmoud testified. "The Marines operation was done."

Forensic expert Danny Defenbaugh, who had examined the scene of the blast, said the explosive used in the attack was so-called "bulk form" pentaerythritol tetranitrate, which is not commercially available and was not manufactured in Lebanon at the time.

It was however produced in Iran, according to Defenbaugh.

AFP