U.S. Court Denies POWs Right to Collect From U.S. Iraqi Funds

On July 30, 2003, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia granted summary judgment to the U.S. Treasury against 17 former prisoners of war (POWs) from the 1991 Gulf War and 37 of their close family members. The POWs sought to attach funds from ones seized in the 2003 Iraq war which were entitled to them due to mistreatment as POWs in Iraq. The awarded funds would have totaled $653,070,000. The Treasury argued that a bill enabled the President to protect funds seized in this manner for the development of Iraq, although it had been a state sponsor of terrorism.