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Sudan Says Near Settlement With US for 1998 Embassy Bombings

Members of a family who lost a relative, stand next to a plaque bearing the names of those killed in the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi | AFP
Members of a family who lost a relative, stand next to a plaque bearing the names of those killed in the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi | AFP
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Sudan Says Near Settlement With US for 1998 Embassy Bombings

Members of a family who lost a relative, stand next to a plaque bearing the names of those killed in the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi | AFP
Members of a family who lost a relative, stand next to a plaque bearing the names of those killed in the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi | AFP

Sudan is close to finalizing a deal with the United States to compensate the victims of 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, Foreign Minister Asma Abdalla said Tuesday.

"The final touches of a settlement with victims of embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam are being finalized," Abdalla told AFP in an interview.

"We now have a delegation in Washington negotiating with the victims' lawyers and officials at the US Department of State."

The twin bombings took place in August 1998 when a massive blast hit the US embassy in downtown Nairobi, shortly followed by an explosion in Dar es Salaam.

The attacks claimed by Al-Qaeda killed a total of 224 people and injured around 5,000 -- almost all of them Africans.

The US has accused Sudan of aiding militants linked to the militant bombings and demanded compensation for victims' families.

Sudan has since August been led by a transitional administration following the military ouster of President Omar al-Bashir in the wake of mass protests against his rule.

Under Bashir's 30-year rule, the country adopted a more radical course of Islam, hosting Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden between 1992 and 1996.

This strained ties with the US, which blacklisted Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The post-Bashir government has sought to boost the country's international standing and rebuild ties with the US.

In February, Sudan had to compensate families of victims of the USS Cole bombing in 2000 in Yemen's Aden harbor, for which Al-Qaeda also claimed responsibility.

Khartoum had always denied any involvement but agreed to the settlement to fulfill a key US condition to remove it from Washington's terrorism blacklist.

After the deal on the embassy bombings, Sudan "will have fulfilled all the requirements" to be removed from the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, Abdalla said.

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Security Council Urges Syrian Authorities to Protect Minorities

Security personnel inspect vehicles at a checkpoint set up to confiscate stolen items, in Latakia, Syria March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Security personnel inspect vehicles at a checkpoint set up to confiscate stolen items, in Latakia, Syria March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
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Security Council Urges Syrian Authorities to Protect Minorities

Security personnel inspect vehicles at a checkpoint set up to confiscate stolen items, in Latakia, Syria March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Security personnel inspect vehicles at a checkpoint set up to confiscate stolen items, in Latakia, Syria March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

The UN Security Council has condemned the widespread violence in several provinces in Syria, calling on the interim authorities “to protect all Syrians without distinction.”

In a presidential statement it adopted unanimously on Friday, the Council “condemned the widespread violence perpetrated in Syria’s Latakia and Tartus provinces since 6 March — including mass killings of civilians among the Alawite community.”

The Council “condemned attacks targeting civilian infrastructure” and “called on all parties to immediately cease all violence and inflammatory activities and ensure the protection of all civilian populations and infrastructure, as well as humanitarian operations.”

It said “all parties and States must ensure full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to those affected and the humane treatment of all persons. The Council also urged a rapid increase of humanitarian support across Syria.”

The Council “called for swift, transparent, independent, impartial and comprehensive investigations to ensure accountability and bring all perpetrators of violence against civilians to justice.”

It took note of the Syrian interim authorities’ establishment of an independent committee to investigate such violence and identify those responsible.

The Council also noted the Syrian decision to establish a committee for civil peace.

It renewed its call for an inclusive political process led and owned by Syrians, facilitated by the UN and based on the principles outlined in resolution 2254. “This includes safeguarding the rights of all Syrians — regardless of ethnicity or religion — meeting their legitimate aspirations and enabling them to peacefully, independently and democratically determine their futures.”

Meanwhile, the Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, hoped that the Constitutional Declaration issued by the Syrian authorities “will move Syria toward restoring the rule of law and promoting an orderly inclusive transition.”

Pedersen issued a statement on the fourteenth anniversary of the war in Syria.

“Now is the time for bold moves to create a genuinely credible and inclusive transitional government and legislative body; a constitutional framework and process to draft a new constitution for the long term that is credible and inclusive too; and genuine transitional justice,” he said.

“More than three months since the fall of the Assad regime, Syria now stands at a pivotal moment,” he added.

The Special Envoy called for “an immediate end to all violence and for protection of civilians in accordance with international law” and called “for a credible independent investigation into the recent killings and violence, and for the full cooperation of the caretaker authorities with the United Nations in this regard.”