The suit, filed on Dec. 30, was said to represent nearly 200 Israelis
and Americans, victims of Hamas and other attacks in the Middle East. The
suit also named Oscar Wyatt and David Chalmers, principal shareholders of El
Paso Energy and Bayoil.
Attorneys Gavriel Mairone and Michael Miller said they gathered
evidence that El Paso Energy and Bayoil paid the families of Hamas and other
suicide bombers. They said the payment was channeled through numerous fronts
in tax havens.
"In a simple way, those profiting or financing terrorism should at least
pay the victims monetary compensation for the damages caused by the
terrorists," Mairone and Michael Miller said in a statement.
The two attorneys have filed a series of suits on behalf of victims of
insurgency attacks against Americans and Israelis. In August 2008, Mairone
and Miller filed a $30 billion suit against Sudan, Iran and its Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps on behalf of 221 victims "for providing financing
and material assistance to Al Qaida in connection with the bombing of the
United States Embassies in Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi in 1998."
Mairone has also been involved in a multi-billion-dollar suit in U.S.
federal court against a major international bank. The bank was sued by more
than 1,500 victims of attacks attributed to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic
Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyr Brigades and the Popular Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine.
"It is our goal to help these victims, and force the cruel financiers of
international terrorism to be accountable for the murder, maiming and
destruction of so many families and innocent children, women and men,"
Mairone said.
