U.S. Supreme Court backs Sudan in USS Cole bombing lawsuit

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday prevented American sailors injured in the deadly 2000 al Qaeda bombing of the Navy destroyer USS Cole from collecting $314.7 million in damages from the government of Sudan for its alleged role in the attack.

In a 8-1 decision, the justices overturned a lower court's decision that had allowed the sailors to collect the damages from certain banks that held Sudanese assets. The decision represented a major victory for Sudan, which denies that it provided any support to the al Qaeda militant group for the attack in Yemen. Sudan was backed by President Donald Trump's administration in the case.

(Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham)