New York — U.S. officials and insurance companies representing victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks are locked in an unusual legal standoff, stemming from the government's refusal to admit it has the alleged mastermind of the attacks in custody.
The insurance companies want the U.S. Justice Department to serve summonses and complaints on Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other militants named as defendants in a lawsuit in federal court in New York City.
But U.S. authorities said they have never officially acknowledged holding the men. They also have argued such a disclosure could hurt the government's battle against terrorism.
The insurers insist the government cannot prevent them from pursuing valid claims against terrorist organizations and have proposed a plan to keep information about them under seal. A judge has yet to rule on the plan.
Stephen Cozen, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the insurance companies, said his clients "understand the government's concerns" and hope to reach a compromise.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office declined Friday to discuss the case.
The stalemate stems from a huge case comprising lawsuits brought by families of the victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Joining them are subsidiaries of Chubb Corp. and other insurance companies trying to recover more than $5-billion for property damage and workers' compensation, plus $200-billion in punitive damages.
The lawsuit seeks damages from the governments of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan; al-Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist networks and Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Saudi royalty.
Also named as defendants are Mr. Mohammed, the suspected No. 3 al-Qaeda leader arrested in Pakistan in March 2003; Ramzi Binalshibh, an alleged co-ordinator of the Sept. 11 attacks and about a dozen other terror suspects believed held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or other U.S. military outposts.
The government has agreed to deliver summonses to only those defendants held by the Federal Bureau of Prisons or U.S. Marshals Service. It has refused to serve papers on defendants held in secret, citing previous rulings involving demands from news organizations and public-interest groups that the government disclose the names of detainees.
In one of those cases, a court agreed identifying the suspects "could be of great use to al-Qaeda in plotting future terrorist attacks or intimidating witnesses in the present investigation."
