Kilburn v. Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Blake Kilburn brought suit against the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya), the Libyan External Security Organization (LESO), the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security, seeking damages on his own behalf and as executor of the estate of his brother, Peter Kilburn (together, the plaintiff), for Peter's kidnaping, sale, torture, and death. The allegations of the complaint, as further detailed in district court pleadings and a declaration, are as follows. Peter Kilburn was an American citizen who lived in Lebanon and worked as an instructor and librarian at the American University of Beirut. On November 30, 1984, he was abducted from his apartment; Hizbollah, a terrorist organization funded by Iran, claimed responsibility. In late 1985, the American government was approached by an intermediary who claimed to be acting on behalf of Kilburn's captors and who sought a ransom for his return. For the next several months, the United States negotiated for Kilburn's release. On April 14, 1986, while Kilburn was still in captivity, the United States conducted airstrikes on Tripoli, Libya, in retaliation for Libya's involvement in the bombing of a Berlin nightclub that killed two American soldiers. Thereafter, Libya made it known that it wanted to purchase an American hostage to murder in revenge for the airstrikes. Sometime between April 14 and 17, the Arab Revolutionary Cells (ARC), a terrorist organization sponsored by Libya, bought Kilburn from Hizbollah for approximately $3 million and subsequently tortured him. On or about April 17, 1986, ARC murdered Kilburn and left his body by the side of a road near Beirut, alongside the bodies of two British hostages. In a note found nearby, ARC claimed responsibility.