The Sudanese Ministry of Justice announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement with the families of the victims of the bombing of the American destroyer "USS Cole", which was attacked in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000.
The Ministry of Justice stated in its statement published by the Sudanese News Agency, "Suna", that "as part of the efforts of the transitional government of Sudan to remove the name of Sudan from the American list of countries sponsoring terrorism, a settlement agreement was signed on February 7 with the families and victims of the bombing of the American destroyer Cole in The year 2000, in which litigation against Sudan is still ongoing before US courts. ”
The statement added: “The government of Sudan wishes to indicate that the settlement agreement concluded explicitly was emphasized on the government's lack of responsibility for this incident or any other incidents or acts of terrorism, and that it entered into this settlement out of keenness to settle the historical allegations of terrorism left by the regime. The article, and only for the purpose of fulfilling the conditions set by the US administration to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in order to normalize relations with the United States and the rest of the world ».
On October 12, 2000, a booby-trapped boat exploded in the destroyer’s body, which forced it to withdraw to the Yemeni port of Aden to repair the damage caused by the explosion in its body.
As a result of the bombing, 17 American sailors were killed, in addition to two of the attackers, who are believed to belong to the "Al Qaeda" organization founded by Osama bin Laden.
Washington has accused Khartoum of being involved in the blast, which Khartoum denies.
In 1993, Washington placed Sudan on the "list of terrorism-sponsoring states" for its supposed link to militant groups. Bin Laden stayed in Sudan from 1992 to 1996. In 2012, a US judge issued a ruling against Sudan by paying $ 300 million to the families of the victims of the destroyer.