The families of the 17 sailors killed in the suicide strike on the USS
Cole have charged Sudan with helping in the attack, which took place in the
Yemeni port of Sanaa. The families have
filed a suit of more than $100 million against Khartoum.
Filed in federal district court in Richmond, Va., the suit alleged that
the Sudanese regime helped Al Qaida in the attack. The suit, expected to be
heard later in March, said Sudan served as the headquarters of Al Qaida from
1991 until 1996.
In 1996, the United States pressured Sudan to expel Osama Bin
Laden, Middle East Newsline reported. Bin Laden resettled in Afghanistan.
Citing a Canadian intelligence report, the families of the U.S. sailors
said Khartoum facilitated a shipment of more than four crates of explosives
from Sudan to Yemen before the USS Cole bombing. They said Sudan was also
used as a base for Al Qaida attacks on the U.S. embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania in 1998.
Sudan, the suit said, "knowingly and deliberately aided and abetted" the
USS Cole bombers. The suit said Khartoum permitted Al Qaida agents to use
Sudan as a safe haven and provided them with false passports.
Khartoum, on the U.S. State Department terrorist list, has denied
involvement in the USS Cole strike. In February, an Al Qaida operative
accused of the attack escaped a prison in Sanaa.
Prior to the suit, attorneys for the plaintiffs sought to obtain
compensation from Congress. But Congress hesitated because the victims were
active-duty military personnel.