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
TT
20

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.



Israel Says Two Hezbollah Members Hit in South Lebanon Airstrike

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
TT
20

Israel Says Two Hezbollah Members Hit in South Lebanon Airstrike

This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture taken from a position in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, shows an Israeli flag (L) on a destroyed building, and a Lebanese flag (R) painted on a damaged building in the southern Lebanese village of Mais al-Jabal on November 25, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday targeting two Hezbollah members, with Lebanese health authorities reporting one person killed and three wounded.

It was the latest in a series of deadly strikes in the area despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in November after more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

"A short while ago, two Hezbollah terrorists who served as observation operatives and directed terrorist activities were struck by the (military) in the area of Yohmor in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement.

The Lebanese health ministry's emergency unit said the "Israeli airstrike on a van in the village of Yohmor... led to one death", according to the official National News Agency (NNA), adding that three other people were wounded.

The agency reported that an Israeli drone had targeted a motorcycle with two riders, but a passing van was also hit by shrapnel, and "fires erupted in it" and a nearby shop.

The attack came a day after NNA and the health ministry reported four deaths in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that the military had targeted the south Lebanon town of Ainata after "a stray bullet from a Hezbollah operative's funeral" hit the windshield of a vehicle in the northern Israeli community of Avivim.

"We will not allow shooting from Lebanese territory toward northern communities -- we will respond strongly to any violation of the ceasefire," Katz said.

Israel's military also said "a gunshot hit a parked vehicle in the area of Avivim. No injuries were reported. The shot most likely originated from Lebanese territory."

NNA cited the health ministry as saying that the strike on Ainata "led to the death of two people", after reporting earlier fatalities in Israeli strikes on Mais al-Jabal and Bint Jbeil, also in south Lebanon.

The November 27 truce largely halted the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, which included two months of open war in which Israel sent in ground troops.

But Israel has continued to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory since the agreement took effect.

Under the agreement, Israel had been expected to withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops at five locations it deems "strategic".

The ceasefire also required Hezbollah to pull back north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the border, and to dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.