Family of American contractors beheaded in Iraq suing Syria

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Friday August 25, 2006

Washington- The families of two American contractors abducted and beheaded in Iraq plan to sue the Syrian government for hundreds of millions of dollars, arguing Damascus aided the terrorists who carried out the murders, the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper reported Friday. Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, who both for a United Arab Emirates company contracted by the US Defence Department, were kidnapped in September 2004. Later, videotapes emerged showing the executions.

The United States accuses Syria of allowing insurgents and terrorists to infiltrate Iraq through its territory, and the lawsuit cites a US State Department identifying Syria as a "facilitation hub for terrorists."

"This family is doing their best to do what they can to see that this does not happen to someone else," John Salter, the attorney representing the Hensley family, told the newspaper.

Salter said the lawsuit will try to seize assets of the Syrian government and the al-Qaeda terrorist organization operating in Iraq.

The former head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is believed to have personally carried out the beheading. Al-Zarqawi was killed in a US airstrike in June.

"This is a small attempt, but it's something they can do, and something we as lawyers feel is the right thing to do," Salter said.

After Hensley's abduction, his wife appeared on television from her Atlanta, Georgia home to appeal for her husband's life.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur