A New York judge decided that he jurisdiction to preside over a lawsuit against the PLO by victims of bombings in Jerusalem, AP reported on Friday.
Federal Judge George Daniels in Manhattan reportedly said his decision was based on the fact that the PLO had offices in Washington and New York in the three years when the bombings took place, thus creating a sufficient connection to the US, which would allow the lawsuit to take place there.
The lawsuit, filed in 2004, seeks $3 billion in damages for terrorist attacks that took place between January 2001 and February 2004, during the Second Intifada.
The attacks mentioned in the suit killed 33 people and wounded hundreds, many of which were US citizens.
In 2008, the Bush administration declined to interfere in the case, citing its policy to provide money to cash-strapped Palestinians in an effort to bolster the population.
"The United States supports just compensation for victims of terrorism from those responsible for their losses and has encouraged all parties to resolve these cases to their mutual benefit," US attorneys wrote. "At the same time, the United States remains concerned about the potentially significant impact that these cases may have on the financial and political viability of the defendants."
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