Sudan has reached an agreement with the families of the victims of the 2000 attack on the American destroyer USS Cole, for compensation, the Sudanese Ministry of Justice announced on Monday.
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Khartoum had agreed in February to pay compensation to the families of the 17 American sailors who were killed in a suicide attack off Yemen, claimed by the Al-Qaeda group. The American justice system had found Sudan responsible for the attack, claiming that its perpetrators had been trained in this country, which Khartoum has long denied.
By accepting an agreement on this issue, Sudan has fulfilled one of the essential conditions for Washington's withdrawal from this African country from the list of states supporting terrorism. The justice minister said on Monday that a joint petition with the families had been sent to US courts to ask them to quash the ongoing proceedings on the USS Cole.
The details of the agreement " have now been fixed so as to permanently end the proceedings, " the ministry said in a statement, but did not provide details on the financial side of the agreement. the US list of states that have supported terrorism since 1993 because of its alleged support for radical Islamist groups, which blocks the way for foreign investment. The country hosted former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden between 1992 and 1996.
Since the ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 after four months of mass protests, Sudan is negotiating with Washington to be removed from the black list, in order to better fight the economic crisis plaguing the country. . According to the Ministry of Justice, the agreement obtained " clearly states that Sudan is not responsible for the attack on the USS Cole ", and that the agreement serves " the strategic interests of the country ".
