US judge orders Iran pay 2.6 bln for 1983 attack

WASHINGTON, Sep 8 (Reuters) A US judge has ordered Iran to pay more than 2.6 billion dollar to nearly 1,000 family members and a handful of survivors of the 1983 bombing of a marine barracks in Lebanon.

US District Judge Royce Lamberth issued his decision on Friday, despite the uncertainty Iran will ever pay.

''This court is sadly aware that there is little it can do to heal the physical wounds and emotional scars,'' Lamberth wrote in his ruling.

''The court hopes this extremely sizable judgment will serve to aid in the healing process and simultaneously sound the alarm to the defendants that their unlawful attack on our citizens will not be tolerated,'' Lamberth said.

''The fact that almost 1,000 individuals sought redress in this action confirms the sheer number of individuals whose lives were forever altered as a result of this senseless attack,'' Lamberth said.

The October 23, 1983, attack on a US Marines barracks in Beirut killed 241 soldiers, and prompted the withdrawal of the remaining Marines who were in Lebanon on a UN-sanctioned peacekeeping mission.

Although the militant group Hezbollah carried out the suicide bombing, Lamberth ruled in 2003 that Iran was legally responsible for supporting Hezbollah with financial and logistical support to carry out the attack.

Hundreds of survivors and families packed into the courtroom to hear the ruling and erupted into applause when he left the bench, according to US media reports.

Lamberth provided a detailed account of how much each person would receive. He gave the largest award to Larry Gerlach, whose injuries in the attack included a broken neck that led to permanent quadriplegia.

However, the survivors and family members face long odds of collecting damages from Iran, whose relations with the United States remain tense.

The country's assets in the United States are worth only about 20 million dollars, mainly in diplomatic assets, according to State Department officials, The Washington Post reported.

REUTERS TB RN0119