Jordan sued by families of killed US soldiers at King Faisal Airbase shooting
Shaheennews –
Families of three US soldiers killed in 2016 by a Jordanian guard at the gate of the King Faisal Airbase in Southern Jordan, filed a lawsuit against the Jordanian Government, according to the New York Times, November 16, 2018.
Three US Army Special Forces were killed near Al-Jafr on November 4, 2016, by Jordanian Corporal Marik Al Tuwayha, as the American convoy approached the Air Base.
The families of the American soldiers filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court in Washington, on what they considered to be false accusations that the Green Berets provoked the killings, accounts allegedly disputed by a video of the incident. The families now seek “unspecified” monetary damages from the Jordanian Government.
James Moriarty, father of one of the soldiers, said during a press conference that the Jordanian authorities should take responsibility for the “false allegations” and urged Washington to review its alliance with Amman.
Families of the Americas soldiers explained that the Jordanian Government leaked to the media false allegations that the Green Berets were drunk and accidentally fired a bullet at the gate, causing the tragic incident to happen.
The allegations, according to the families, do not fit the base’s surveillance video, showing one of the dead soldiers, Moriarty, trying to settle the situation then raising his hands in the air after the other two soldiers get injured.
According to the lawsuit, Jordan “aided and abetted this terrorist act,” and that Amman initially tried to defend the Jordanian solider, by asserting that he had acted “within internationally accepted rules of engagement.”
The Jordanian Embassy in Washington declined to comment directly, but said that “Jordan successfully prosecuted the perpetrator, and he is now serving a life sentence.”
“Jordan deeply regrets the tragedy, and has done its best to achieve justice,” the statement said.
In July 2017, the Jordanian military court convicted the perpetrator of murder and sentenced him to life in prison with hard labor.
