A New York judge wants World Trade Centre (WTC) leaseholder Larry Silverstein and the Swiss Re-led consortium of insurers to meet on November 6 for mediation intended to break the stalemate over a settlement. The WTC was destroyed in the 9/11 attack(s), and the two parties have been arguing whether the New York disaster constituted one or two separate events.

The case is due to go to trial in February, but New York Governor George Pataki is reportedly applying pressure on all parties to reach a speedy settlement because he wants a new foundation stone laid on the WTC site before the end of next year. That would mark the beginning of building the “Freedom Tower” on the 6.4 hectare site.

The Governor’s intervention puts additional pressure on the insurers, because the amount they pay out will dictate what is available to pay for the new 541-metre tower. Estimates are that it will cost up to $8.5 billion – about what Mr Silverstein is claiming. The insurers maintain they owe about $5 billion.

Reports suggest two trials may be needed to settle the matter – one to decide whether the insurers really were bound by the proposal drawn up by brokers Willis, and the second to decide whether the attack(s) was/were one or two occurrences.

Meanwhile, the names of about 40 people listed on the WTC death list for more than two years are being removed because the city cannot confirm their deaths, whether they ever existed or whether they were at the scene at the time.

A city administration committee has been eliminating names where there is no evidence that the people reported missing were ever there. More than 40 people have been arrested so far for making fraudulent claims about lost relatives.

The WTC death toll is now 2750 – a long way from the official estimate of 6700 two weeks after the attack.