Sudan pledges to pay $6 billion to victims of 1998 Al-Qaeda bombings

KHARTOUM - Victims of 1998 Al-Qaida sponsored attack in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam will get a total of $6 billion once payment agreement is reached, Sudan has pledged.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the country took 'social responsibility" following justification of the indirect involvement in the twin attack.

To address the predicament, Hamdok said, Sudan is crafting swift means of sealing an agreement with the affected parties.

“We took corporate responsibility on addressing these claims and reaching an agreement on them,” Hamdok told the Wall Street Journal in the US last week.

Picked in August after the ouster of Omar Al-Bashir as a transitional leader, Hamdok has been in a diplomatic offensive to "cleanse" Khartoum's reputation over terrorism.

Although he did not give a specific timeline, he said: “A settlement with Kenyan and Tanzanian survivors of some of those killed in the attacks will be reached definitely in weeks, not months."

The attack left 224 people dead. Kenya was the worst hit, losing 214 people while Tanzania lost 10. The attack targeted US embassies in the two countries.

Slain Al-Qaeda leader Osman Bin Laden took responsibility. It was the first major terrorist offensive in East Africa. Of those dead, the US lost 12 nationals.

The US indicted Sudan when it was established that it hosted Bin Laden throughout the period he planned the attacks.

The survivors could receive an additional $4.3 billion if the US Supreme Court overturns a decision by a lower court disqualifying them from punitive damages that would also be paid by Sudan.

“We have reached out to the attorneys representing Sudan and offered various creative proposals for the resolution of their obligations to the victims of the bombings,” Chicago-based attorney Gavriel Mairone said in an email message.

Those offers “take into consideration Sudan's economic situation and the economic situation of our clients whose lives have been destroyed and many of whom were thrown into poverty for the last 20 years with the loss of their 'breadwinners' (fathers or mothers/spouses),” Mairone wrote.

In 1993, Sudan was blacklisted by the US for engaging in terrorists related activities. It's a leader by then, Al-Bashir, who was blocked from traveling to the US.

Before his ouster this year following civil unrest and subsequent military intervention, Al-Bashir had been indicted by International Criminal Court over genocide in Darfur.

The decision by Hamdok is aimed at restoring international confidence in the new regime. The PM had also promised a host of reforms when he took over.

Al-Qaeda has since been weakened following the death of Bin Laden, who was killed by American Marine corps after being captured in Pakistan in 2011.

GAROWE ONLINE