"It
was
North Korea which trained Hizbullah leadership and built the underground
bunkers that permitted the terrorists to evade Israeli jets during the
Second Lebanese War [in 2006] and to continue their rocket attacks targeting
civilians."
This was said to have marked the first suit of North Korea in connection
with its alleged help to Hizbullah. The suit cited a May 2008 memorandum by
the U.S. House Foreign
Affairs Committee that reported North Korean construction of Hizbullah
tunnels, used in the 34-day war against Israel. Hizbullah has also been
named a defendant in the suit, titled "Kaplan vs. North Korea."
The American plaintiffs said North Korea trained Hizbullah and
constructed a network of tunnels and bunkers to store rocket launchers in
Lebanon. During the 2006 war, Hizbullah fired 4,500 rockets and 43 Israelis
were killed.
"As a facilitator of the Hizbullah rockets, North Korea is financially
liable to all those Americans injured by the terrorists," Ms.
Darshan-Leitner said. "The lawsuit aims to secure a measure justice for the
terror victims and teach North Korea that it cannot continue to support
Hizbullah with impunity."
Ms. Darshan-Leitner and co-counsels Robert Tolchin and Nathan Tarnor did
not cite North Korean assets in the United States. Ms. Darshan-Leitner and
Tolchin have filed several suits against Hamas and Iran in connection with
insurgency attacks against Israel.
