Judge: U.N. Not Liable For Iraq Attack Victims

The United Nations should not be held liable for employees who were injured in a terrorist attack in Iraq, a federal magistrate judge ruled on Friday.

The plaintiff in the case, Darlene Bisson, was working for the World Food Program in Baghdad on Aug. 19, 2003, when a bomb exploded at the UN compound there, killing 22 people and injuring her and over 150 others.

Ms. Bisson sued the United Nations and World Food Program for "failing to take the appropriate security measures to prevent dangerous terrorist and/or insurgent forces from injuring employees at the UN headquarters."

Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck decided that the U.N. charter grants it immunity from such suits, an opinion endorsed by the federal government. A District Court judge can still overturn the decision.