WASHINGTON -- A magistrate
judge in the District Court of Washington, D.C. has dismissed a
lawsuit by the survivors and families of victims of the June 25, 1996
Khobar Towers bombing in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, that sought millions
of dollars in damages against the government of the Islamic Republic
of Iran.
In an opinion handed down June 6, 2006, Judge Deborah A.
Robinson asserted that the plaintiffs "offered no evidence regarding
the action of any official, employee or agent" or the Iranian regime,
its intelligence ministry (MOIS), or the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps, IRGC.
The opinion comes at a delicate time in U.S.-Iranian relations,
just a European negotiator, Javier Solana, was in Tehran to present a
joint U.S.-European offer to the Iranian regime, aimed at getting
Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program.
An advocate for the victims, Michael Engelberg, told Newsmax he
believes the State Department intervened to get the case dismissed as
a sop to the Iranian regime.
"This is more than coincidental," he said. "The timing of this, just
as Solana goes to Tehran, makes me feel uncomfortable."
In her 45-page ruling, Judge Robinson rejected testimony
presented by former FBI Director Louis Freeh and his deputy, Dale
Watson, on grounds that they "confined their testimony regarding the
involvement of the government of Iran in the bombing of Khobar Towers
to their opinions – in the words of Mr. Watson – ‘as
private citizen[s].'"
However, trial transcript of the Dec. 18, 2003 hearing at which
Freeh and Watson testified shows clearly that both sought to describe
the FBI investigation into the bombing, but that Judge Robinson
actively thwarted their testimony.
At one point, lawyers for the victims asked Freeh, "Did the FBI
learn of the involvement of any foreign government in the attack?"
Judge Robinson struck the question, and insisted on directing the
questioning herself after that.
Freeh went on to testify that six suspects, arrested by the
Saudi authorities and interviewed by the FBI – including by him
personally – "admitted to us that they were members of Saudi
Hezbzollah . . . They implicated several Iranian officials in funding
and planning the attack."
Freeh named Iranian government officials who organized the
attack, provided funds, and assisted in the logistics of preparing
the bomb.
"My own conclusion was that the [Khobar Towers] attack
was planned, funded and sponsored by the senior leadership of the
Government of Iran," he said. "All the training and the funding was
done by the IRGC with support from senior leaders of the Government
of Iran."
But Judge Robinson found that evidence from the former FBI
Director uncompelling.
At key points during the hearing, the Judge called the court into
recess, disappeared into her chambers, then re-emerged to read out
long lists of questions, apparently dictated to her by others, that
sought to impeach the testimony of both Freeh and Watson.
A long-time observer of the DC District court who himself has
tried terrorism cases repeatedly called Judge Robinson's courtroom
behavior "disingenuous," "out of line," and "in violation of federal
rules of evidence."
Michael Engelberg, whose American Center for Civil Justice
sponsors lawsuits on behalf of victims of state-sponsored terrorist
attacks, said he suspected the judge was having "ex-parte
communications" during the recess, and was calling State Department
lawyers for instructions.
Ex-parte communications by judges with the executive branch are
normally barred under the Constitution.
However, State Department attorneys who submitted an amicus
curiae brief to the court that supported the position of the Iranian
Government, told a reporter they had only done so "because the Court
explicitly asked us to intervene."
"It's outrageous for the United States government to make an
appearance in court to defend the government of the Islamic Republic
of Iran," Engelberg said.