Relatives of the 20 people who died after a US military jet sliced through a cable car wire in the Alps are to receive the maximum compensation allowed by Italian law.

The Italian government has ruled that almost 4bn lire (about $1.9m) will be awarded for each of the fatalities from the disaster which took place at the ski resort of Cavalese two years ago.

The only survivor of the accident will get 1.5bn lire.

A spokesman for the Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema said that the US government would be responsible for paying 75% of the compensation - citing a 1951 convention between Nato member states.

The compensation announcement came as a US judge ruled on Tuesday that the families of five Belgian victims who died in the accident could not seek damages directly from the US government.

While sympathising with the families, US District Judge Malcolm Howard said their only recourse was through the Nato agreement.

To allow the families to sue in the US "could conceivably undercut the treaty and create a cause of action for any overseas military accident," he said.

Servicemen prosecuted

The pay-outs follow a horrific accident in February 1998 when a US Marine radar-jamming jet on a training mission flew low enough to slice through ski lift cables at the Italian resort.

The gondola car plunged about 120m (400 ft) to the icy slopes below.

Those who died in the accident included Italians, Germans, Dutch, Belgians, Austrians and a 13-year-old Polish boy.

The US pilot Richard Ashby was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and dereliction on duty.

But he was convicted on charges that he and the flight navigator, Captain Joseph Schweitzer, destroyed a videotape shot during the flight.

Ashby served five months in a military jail and was discharged from the Marines.

Schweitzer pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice and was dismissed from service.

Ashby's acquittal on the most serious charges sparked an outcry in Italy.

Families of the victims, who felt the sentence was too light, called for the case to be re-opened.