Insurers set for 9/11 battle

2004-02-09 21:17

New York - A jury in United States federal court began hearing opening arguments on Monday in the bitter, multibillion-dollar feud about the size of the insurance payout for the September 11 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre.

The case pits the trade centre's leaseholder, Larry Silverstein, against a dozen insurance companies, led by Swiss Re and Travellers Indemnity Company.

Silverstein maintains he is entitled to a double payout of about $7bn on the grounds that the events of September 11 constituted two separate attacks - one by each of the hijacked planes that were flown, 16 minutes apart, into the twin towers.

The insurers argue that the two strikes were part of a single, continuous, planned attack and that therefore they are liable only for a policy limit $3.5bn.

Two judges have already ruled in favour of the insurers, but Silverstein hopes a jury will see things differently.

The case is complicated by the fact that Silverstein took over the trade centre lease just six weeks before the attack, raising questions about the precise nature of the insurance policies in force when the planes hit.

The trial, which is expected to last up to two months, carries obvious ramifications for the massive project to redevelop the devastated trade centre site.

Silverstein has estimated the rebuilding cost at about $12bn.

Funds with a public purpose

"The outcome will have a direct and substantial impact on the rebuilding effort," said Kevin Rampe, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is overseeing the project.

"While it is a private dispute, it is a dispute about funds with a public purpose - our nation's recovery from the worst terrorist attack in history," said Rampe. "Regardless of the merits of either side's case, the greater the recovery, the more resources that will be available to rebuild the World Trade Centre."

- AFP