SUDAN. Khartoum: The United States on March 31st said it had received $335m from Sudan for compensation for victims of the 1998 bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
“We are pleased to announce that the United States received the $335 million provided by Sudan to compensate victims of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the USS Cole in 2000 as well as the 2008 killing of USAID employee John Granville,” a statement from the US Department of State read.
The U.S. had accused Sudan of sponsoring terrorists including the Al-Qaeda, linked to the late Jihadist Osama Bin Laden.
The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the payment herald a new bilateral relationship between the two states
The US further assured that it will continue its support for the efforts of Sudan’s civilian-led transitional government to deliver freedom, peace, and justice to its people.
The Nairobi attack in 1998 was the most devastating.
The death toll in Nairobi was eventually established at 213 with around 5,000 wounded.
Most were Africans, passers-by or workers in nearby buildings. Forty-four people including 12 Americans were also killed in the Embassy itself.
In Tanzania, 11 were killed and 70 wounded, all were said to be passers-by.
Washington had said in 2015 that it had already spent millions of dollars on medical treatment, school fees, counseling, and reconstruction services for the thousands of Kenyan and Tanzanian victims.
What happened during that day?
Two bombs blew simultaneously in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Nairobi in Kenya on August 7, 1998.
Julian Bartley, the first African American to serve the US as Consul General in Kenya died.
His 20 year old son Julian L. Bartley Jnr also died during the blast.
Over 900 US Federal Bureau Of Investigations (FBI) agents were deployed globally to track down perpetrators and recover evidence.
The attack was linked to Al Qaeda sponsored by then Osama bin Laden.
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Sudan provided shelter to Bin Laden and passports to the perpetrators for transporting of weapons into neighbouring Kenya.
Some of the suspects in the attack included Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, Said Al Adel and Ayman Al Zawahiri.
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