Knowland v. Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ) MICHELLE VAN BENEDEN, as Sole ) Legatee of Peter Lesley Knowland, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Civil Action No. 08-1309 (RMC) ) ABDALLAH AL-SANUSI, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) ) MEMORANDUM OPINION Who was Peter Knowland? It depends on whom you ask. According to Michelle Van Beneden, who claims to be Mr. Knowland’s sole heir, Mr. Knowland was an American national injured in an horrific Syrian-sponsored terrorist attack on the Schwechat Airport in Vienna, Austria in 1985 for which his estate may recover damages. Ms. Van Beneden claims that…