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U.S. government pays out to family of man killed by drone strike

Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian, and Warren Weinstein, a U.S. citizen, were killed in 2015. The families of the two men have long-held that the aid workers were killed as the consequence of a U.S. military drone strike which targeted a region of Pakistan in which the two men were being held captive. After going through due legal process, the U.S. government has claimed responsibility and is to pay out one million euros in compensation to the Lo Porto family.

The family of Giovanni Lo Porto claim that he was close to being released by his al-Qaida captors when the drone strike took place. The U.S. government said in the aftermath of the counter-terrorism mission, in admitting the deaths, that the men were ‘unfortunate casualties’ of the attack on an al-Qaida base. On launching the strike, U.S. military intelligence had assumed that no civilians were present.

Quoted by The Guardian, a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Rome confirmed the admission and payment, adding: “We did that knowing that no dollar figure would ever bring back their loved ones and, out of respect for the families, we are not sharing any details of those payments.” Officially the payment is listed as a “donation in the memory of Giovanni Lo Porto”.

In addition, the payment comes with the stipulation that “This does not imply the consent by the United States of America to the exercise of the jurisdiction of the Italian courts in disputes, if any, directly or indirectly connected with this instrument. Nothing in this instrument implies a waiver to sovereign or personal immunity.”

It is unknown whether the Weinstein family has received a similar payment.

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Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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