Blinken: US gets $335M from Sudan in victim compensation

SUDAN has paid $335 million as agreed to compensate victims of past anti-US attacks as part of a deal that removed the struggling country from the US terror blacklist, the US top diplomat said on March 31.

The transitional, civilianbacked government provided the funds for survivors and victims’ families from attacks including the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania by al-Qaeda, which was backed by Sudan’s then dictator.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement: “We hope this aids them in finding some resolution for the terrible tragedies that occurred.

“With this challenging process behind us, US-Sudan relations can start a new chapter.

“We look forward to expanding our bilateral relationship and to continuing our support for the efforts of the civilian-led transitional government to deliver freedom, peace and justice to the Sudanese people.”

Sudan agreed to the package last year as it desperately sought to exit the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that severely hindered investment in a country rattled by unrest over tough economic conditions.

Former US president Donald Trump agreed last year to remove Sudan but only after securing an agreement by Sudan to recognise US ally Israel.

The delisting enjoyed wide agreement in Washington although some said it was unfair by focusing on US victims and not providing the same compensation to Africans who made up the bulk of the dead in the 1998 bombings.

The compensation will also cover the 2000 attack by alQaeda on the USS Cole off Yemen’s coast and the killing of US development worker John Granville in Khartoum in 2008.