Posted by Jeff from d53-152-230.try.wideopenwest.com (64.53.230.152) on Saturday, April 05, 2003 at 0:40AM :
Sargon Dadesho Gets $2.4 Million from Iraq.....
Posted By: Vilbert (dialup-209.244.72.94.Dial1.LosAngeles1.Level3.net)
Date: Friday, 4 April 2003, at 9:58 p.m.
Can this be more rediculous, or what?
Iraqi Exile in U.S. to Get Compensation
By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer
FRESNO, Calif. (AP)--An Iraqi exile who survived an assassination attempt ordered by Saddam Hussein received $2.4 million Friday in the latest disbursement from the confiscated assets of the Iraqi government.
The payment to Sargon Dadesho, who runs a satellite network that beams news and anti-Saddam commentary into Iraq, follows an executive order by President Bush taking control of $1.7 billion in frozen Iraqi assets.
Some $302 million of that was set aside to satisfy judgments from lawsuits filed after the first Gulf War.
Dadesho, of Ceres, won a $1.5 million judgment against Iraq for ``emotional distress'' suffered after the assassination attempt 10 years ago, which was foiled by the FBI. Iraq appealed the decision, but a federal appeals court affirmed the judgment.
Dadesho left Iraq 40 years ago and is president of the Assyrian National Congress, an umbrella group representing exiles worldwide.
The $2.4 million received Friday includes interest, said his attorney, Douglas Neibauer.
``My only regret is that Saddam Hussein will not live long enough to find out that I got even with him,'' Dadesho said.
Other Americans held hostage by Iraq before and after the Gulf War received multimillion dollar payments or judgments last week.
Among them were two men who were working as civilian contractors in Kuwait in 1995 when they were taken hostage and tortured by the Iraqi government, according to Miami attorney Andrew Hall, who represented some of the victims.
In 2001, the plaintiffs received judgments ranging from $136,000 to $1.74 million. The plaintiffs sued Iraq and Saddam Hussein in 1999, saying Americans were owed damages for being held several weeks or months by Iraqi security forces as ``human shields'' to prevent air attacks.
-- Jeff
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