A Pakistani tribesman is to sue the CIA for 500 million dollars after his son and brother were killed in America's covert drone war against al Qaeda, his lawyer said Monday. Karim Khan from North Waziristan, the district on the Afghan border where the US campaign has stepped up in recent months, claimed his house had been hit by US missiles on December 31, 2009.
"That drone attack killed my son, my brother and a local man. We are not terrorists, we are common citizens," he told a news conference where he and his lawyer Mirza Shehzad Akbar announced his plan to sue. Pakistani intelligence officials said at the time that four militants were killed in the US missile strike in the Mir Ali area. "According to Islamic law the punishment for blood is blood. If I have the means, I will take revenge for this attack," said Khan. "We need justice. We are innocent people."
Akbar said he will file a lawsuit in Pakistan and, if necessary, the International Court of Justice based in The Hague. "This is not a political case, this is a private complaint," Akbar said. "We will file a lawsuit against the American government and CIA officials for 500 million dollars compensation."