Miami judge dismisses suit claiming Venezuela aided bin Laden

El Nuevo Herald
January 14, 2004

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against Venezuela by the husband of a woman killed in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Judicial Watch, a Washington-based conservative legal group, sued the South American country for $100 million in damages, claiming President Hugo Chavez sent money to Osama bin Laden after the terrorist attacks.

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King dismissed the lawsuit Tuesday, saying the plaintiffs failed to serve their summons and complaint after being given a deadline extension in September.

Messages left Wednesday for Judicial Watch attorneys were not returned.

Judicial Watch sued last January based on allegations in international news reports by Juan Ramon Diaz, a former Chavez pilot who defected to the United States last year.

Judicial Watch did not name the victim but said she was a 47-year-old U.S. citizen who was at a meeting in the World Trade Center's South Tower when the hijacked United Airlines jet hit the building. The suit was filed on behalf of the victim's husband and relatives.

The suit said Chavez routed $1 million to bin Laden, al Qaida and the Taliban through Venezuela's ambassador to India days after the attacks Sept. 11 attacks.

The money was disguised as humanitarian aid to the Taliban , and the ambassador, Walter Marquez, arranged to take the money to Afghanistan, the suit said.

In Venezuela, Marquez denied the charge, and filed a defamation lawsuit against Diaz.

Marquez said the funds in question were aid for victims of an Indian earthquake in January 2001 and a humanitarian donation for Afghan refugees.