Justices hear lawsuit arising from USS Cole bombing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court debated Wednesday whether to overturn a nearly $315 million judgment against Sudan stemming from the bombing of the USS Cole.

The question the justices are being asked to answer is where notice of the lawsuit against Sudan should have been mailed, to its embassy in Washington or its foreign ministry in the country’s capital, Khartoum. It wasn’t clear how the justices would rule.

The U.S. government has weighed in on the side of Sudan and against victims of the Cole bombing in October 2000 in which 17 sailors died and dozens of others were injured. In the case the justices were hearing, a group of injured sailors and several of their spouses sued Sudan in a U.S. court, arguing that Sudan had provided support to al-Qaida, which claimed responsibility for the attack in Yemen. Two sailors injured in the bombing and relatives of sailors who died watched the high court arguments Wednesday.

In order to alert Sudan to the lawsuit, the group mailed the required notice to Sudan’s embassy in Washington, a little over a mile from the White House. Sudan never responded and a court entered an approximately $315 million judgment against the country. Sudan wants that judgment thrown out, arguing that notice of the lawsuit should have been sent overseas. The Trump administration agrees.