by ir » Fri Dec 09, 2005 3:39 am
<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/655820.html">www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/655820.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br> <br> <br>Avi Dichter. Relatives of the 14 civilians killed in an assassination attack are suing him in the U.S. (Archive)<br> <br> <br><br>Last update - 06:37 09/12/2005 <br> <br> <br>Palestinians sue former Shin Bet chief in U.S. for millions <br> <br>By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent <br> <br>Palestinians filed a civil suit against former Shin Bet security service chief Avi Dichter in a U.S. federal court Thursday, seeking millions of dollars in damages.<br><br>The plaintiffs are relatives of the 14 civilians who were killed when Israel assassinated senior Hamas operative Salah Shehadeh in July 2002.<br><br>The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court - Southern District of New York.<br><br><br> <br> <br> Advertisement <br> <br>While Palestinians have previously filed suit in the United States against other Israeli security officials, Dichter, unlike the defendants in those cases, is currently in the U.S. As a result, the plaintiffs have been able to serve him with the papers, thereby enabling the court to hear the case.<br><br>According to the suit, Dichter shares responsibility for the deaths both because of his role in the decision to drop a one-ton bomb on the building where Shehadeh was staying and because he supplied the intelligence on which that decision was based. The Israel Defense Forces said at the time that it decided to drop the bomb based on intelligence indicating that Shehadeh was alone in the building.<br><br>While the suit does not ask for a specific sum in damages - that would be decided by the jury - the total is expected to reach millions of dollars. The plaintiffs are seeking both compensation and punitive damages, arguing that the bombing constituted a war crime that should not go unpunished.<br><br>Dichter has not yet responded to the suit.<br><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <p></p><i></i>
