Friday, March 26, 1999; 1:03 a.m. EST

MIAMI (AP) -- A judge has delayed his order that telephone companies who owe Cuba give the money to survivors of four civilian pilots shot down by Cuban jets.

U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King put his order on hold Thursday pending the outcome of an appeal being filed by one of the companies, AT&T.

Earlier this month, King ordered several telephone companies to withhold more than $6.2 million they owe Cuba and give it instead to the survivors of four members of Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban exile organization.

The men died in February 1996 when Cuban fighter jets shot down two small planes searching for rafter in international waters.

The families won a $187 million judgment against Cuba and the Cuban Air Force in 1997 but were unable to collect because President Clinton waived a new anti-terrorism law that would have allowed them to receive the blocked assets. King ruled that Clinton didn't have the authority to waive the law.

Cuba's telephone company stopped most direct service to the United States last month because U.S. phone companies withheld payments pending King's decision.

U.S. carriers rerouted calls to the island, apparently through third countries or onto Sprint telephone lines, which were not affected.