WASHINGTON: The Obama administration will pay $3 million in compensation to the family of an Italian aid worker who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan last year, a Washington Post report said on Friday.
Giovanni Lo Porto was one of the two aid workers who were killed in the strike in April last year. The other aid worker was an American citizen Warren Weinstein who had been in Pakistan for nearly a decade working as an aid worker and economic adviser when he was kidnapped in 2011 from his residence in Lahore by al Qaeda terrorists.
He was killed in a US drone strike in January, 2015 along with Lo Porto, 37. Weinstein was 73 at the time of his death. According to the Washington Post report, quoting US officials, while the US administration has agreed to make compensation payment to the family of Lo Porto, it is yet to reach an agreement with relatives of Weinstein.
The settlement agreement with the family of Lo Porto came after nearly 18 months of negotiations following an apology by President Obama over the death of the two aid workers, who were killed after being held hostages by the al Qaeda extremists.
In a statement issued, the widow of Weinstein, a resident of Maryland State, said she was heartened to hear that the Lo Porto family had reached a settlement, but added that it would never replace the hurt for the unnecessary loss. Weinstein’s family is working to come to a settlement with the administration.
While the White House declined to confirm details of the payment to the Lo Porto family, Ned Price, a spokesman for the National Security Council said that the government had announced that the family of Lo Porto would be provided a condolence payment.
Weinstein’s family has been locked in a long negotiation with the U.S. government since his death was announced early last year. According to the report the two sides differed on the size of payment.
The United States has carried drone strikes in Pakistan for several years. The Pakistan government is opposed to these strikes as a violation of sovereignty.
