Sudan to appeal US ruling to pay for embassy attacks

By Mohammed Amin
KHARTOUM (AA) – The Sudanese government said Tuesday it will appeal a verdict by the US Supreme Court to pay millions of dollars in punitive damages to victims of 1998 terrorist attacks on US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.

On Monday, the Supreme Court reversed a lower court's decision in 2017 that Khartoum was immune from litigation in addition to about $6 billion in compensatory damages.

The new ruling reinstates about $826 million out of a total $4.3 billion in punitive damages to victims of the twin attacks, in which more than 220 people were killed.

Relatives of the victims sued Sudan in US courts seeking $4.3 billion in punitive damages.

Monday's ruling applies only to claims brought by US nationals, members of the US military, and employees of the US government or embassy contractors.

In a statement, the Sudanese Justice Ministry said the court ruling will not stop Khartoum from seeking to reach a settlement with families of the victims and normalize relations with Washington.

"Sudan's Government will remain engaged in negotiations with the United States to settle the issue of the bombing of its embassies in Nairobi and Dar Al Salaam in 1998, and to work to fully normalize relations between the two countries in order to completely free the Sudanese people from one of the heaviest legacies of the defunct regime," it said.

Last month, Sudan said it has reached a settlement deal with the families of 17 US sailors killed in an attack on US Navy warship USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000.

Sudan has been seeking to lift its name from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism, which blocks Khartoum from being reintegrated in the global financial system.

Washington placed Khartoum on the list in 1993 over allegations that the government was supporting terrorism, in particular attacks in Kenya and Tanzania.