[JURIST] The government of Sudan said Thursday that it will appeal a US court verdict ordering it to pay $7.96 million in compensation to the families of 17 US Navy personnel killed in the 2000 al Qaeda attack on the USS Cole [Wikipedia backgrounder; US DOD inquiry report; JURIST news archive]. Sudanese Justice Minister Mohammed Ali al-Mardi denied that Sudan bore any responsibility for the bombing and said that, as a sovereign state, it could not be tried in a US court. The families had sought $105 million for pain and suffering, but the federal Death on the High Seas Act [text] limits compensation to only economic damages.

In March, Doumar held Sudan liable for the attack a day after the plaintiffs introduced expert testimony [JURIST reports] from four witnesses that al Qaeda could not have accomplished the bombing had Sudan not supported the terrorist organization. Reuters has more.