Posted on 04/03/2003 3:36:15 AM PST by JohnHuang2
Ex-U.S. Hostage Gets $1.75M From Iraq
.c The Associated Press
LAKE HAVASU, Ariz. (AP) - A former oil worker who went partially blind and suffered nerve damage while being held hostage in Iraq in 1990 has received $1.75 million in damages from the Iraqi government.
Jack Frazier, 65, was one of 178 former hostages who successfully sued the Republic of Iraq for illegally detaining them prior to 1991's Gulf War. The former hostages were awarded a total of $93 million.
Frazier, a diabetic who was denied insulin during his three-month detention, was awarded his share in 2001. Frazier received the first half of his $1.75 million settlement last week, and the final payment was deposited into his bank account on Tuesday.
``We have it,'' said Deanna Frazier, Jack's wife. ``All of us have it. I still can't believe it. It's not real yet. After 10 years of fighting and screaming and running into brick walls, in less than a minute somebody just told me it was over.''
Frazier was working for Bechtel Corp., which was building a crude oil refinery in Iraq in August 1990, just before Iraq invaded Kuwait. He said he and co-workers were awakened on Aug. 18, 1990, and detained in the empty U.S. ambassador's home. Soldiers would not let anyone out for medicine, he said.
As a result of the detention, Frazier went blind in one eye and lost 60 pounds. His muscles and nerves began failing. He has no sensation from his knees to his toes or from his fingertips to his elbows.
Although U.S. law allowed hostages to sue foreign countries, it did not provide a mechanism for releasing frozen assets from those nations. That changed when the Terrorism Insurance Bill became law last year.
``Somebody has finally held Saddam accountable for his acts of terrorism,'' Deanna Frazier said. ``This is the first time he's ever been held accountable, and hopefully it won't be the last.''
Can you see the irony here...It may be that he was never held accountable...he is probably dead
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