A $1.5 billion suit was filed against the Palestine Liberation Organization in State Supreme Court here this week by the family of Leon Klinghoffer, the elderly American Jew murdered by the Palestinian hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro off Egyptian waters last month. The suit accuses the PLO of “wanton and coldblooded murder” and asks for $100 million on each of 15 separate counts. Kinghoffer, who was confined to a wheelchair, was murdered by the hijackers and his body thrown overboard. The Klinghoffer family is also suing the owners of the Achille Lauro, Chandris of Italy, Inc.; the port of Genoa from where the hijackers boarded the ship; and Club ABC Tours, Inc. The charges are negligence and failure to adequately insure the safety of Klinghoffer and his wife Marilyn.
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