Vince Lavieri wrote: > http://news.excite.com/news/ap/011016/03/iran-hostages > > Bush Loses Bid to Stop Iran Testimony > > Updated: Tue, Oct 16 3:01 AM EDT > > By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer > > WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration lost a court battle to > block testimony against Iran by former U.S. hostages > who said they should receive compensation because they were > "America's first victims of terrorism." > > With Iran condemning the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the > World Trade Center and the Pentagon, government lawyers > asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by the ex-hostages held captive > for 444 days in 1979-80 when Iranians overran the U.S. > Embassy in Tehran. > > "The U.S. government ought to be ashamed of itself" because it is > playing "a surrogate role for Iran," Barry Rosen, the former > embassy press attache in Tehran, said in an interview before he > testified Monday about his captivity. > > "I believe the U.S. government is doing this only because of the > events of September 11," Rosen said. > > One of his attorneys, Terrance Reed, said the former hostages from > the Tehran embassy and their families were "America's first > victims of terrorism." > > Iran condemns the U.S.-led military strikes to punish the prime > suspect, Osama bin Laden, and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban > officials who harbor him. But Iran also opposes the Taliban, > calling its puritanical version of Islam an affront to the faith and > accusing it of profiting from drug smuggling that passes through > Iran. Iran has provided arms to the northern alliance rebels > seeking to overthrow the Taliban. > > In court papers, the Justice Department said the government sought > "the prompt termination" of the lawsuit in part "to protect > the nation's foreign policy and national security interests > generally." > > "Notwithstanding how it may appear ... we're not intervening to > defend the interests of Iran," Justice Department lawyer James > Gilligan said in court Monday. > > U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan said it was "totally > inexcusable ... outrageous" that the administration waited until last > Friday afternoon to notify the court it was intervening in the > nine-month-old case. > > Sullivan, who will decide how much compensation to grant, refused > to block testimony in which witnesses described beatings, > mock executions and pistols being held to their heads by Iranian > security forces. > > "Shoot me, don't burn me," Al Golacinski said he yelled to his > captors who held "intense heat" of some kind to his face while > he was blindfolded. > > The judge said that "maybe one of the reasons" Iran chose not to > participate in the case "is that that their actions are > indefensible." > > But the judge cautioned the ex-hostages and their families that > the government's legal arguments "are not insignificant" and that > he will have to consider the motion to dismiss the case later this > year. > > Gilligan said the two-decade-old accord that freed the hostages > prohibited claims against Iran. The hostages say a 1996 > anti-terrorism law trumps the accord because Iran is on the State > Department list of terrorist nations. The Justice Department > says Iran wasn't put on the list until several years after the > 1979-80 hostage-taking. > > Retired Army Col. Charles Scott, an ex-Green Beret, testified that > one of his captors was an Iranian government official who > told him, "You're as good as dead." > > Awarded a Silver Star and three Bronze Stars for his bravery in > battle, Scott said his captors told him at one point, "We may > send you back to the North Vietnamese." > > During nearly a month of interrogation, Scott said, he was kicked, > spat on, beaten with a rubber hose while tied to a desk and > led into trees while blindfolded.
