Gov't reaches settlement on suit filed by 31 A-bomb plaintiffs+

HIROSHIMA, Nov. 22 Kyodo - The Japanese government reached a settlement Monday in connection with a suit filed by atomic-bomb survivors and relatives of deceased victims who claimed damages for emotional distress as a result of their exclusion from state
support because they are living abroad.

The 31 plaintiffs -- 17 from the United States, four from Brazil, nine from
Canada and one from Australia -- will receive 1.1 million yen each from the
state under the compromise settlement at the Hiroshima District Court.
It is the first such settlement to be concluded with plaintiffs from Australia
and Canada.
Around 950 people have reached settlements at the Hiroshima District Court
since last December and settlements have also been reached over similar damages
suits filed starting in 2008 with the Osaka and Nagasaki district courts.
The series of settlements followed a Supreme Court decision in 2007, which
ruled unlawful an earlier state notice to municipalities that victims of the
1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would lose their eligibility for
allowances once they leave Japan.
The state has agreed to pay compensation to victims on condition that a
Japanese court recognizes their eligibility.
==Kyodo