Sudan repeats compensation call for 1998 factory bombing by US

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 29 (AFP) — Sudan on Monday repeated its demand for compensation from the United States for the 1998 cruise missile attack on a pharmaceuticals factory in Khartoum.

The United States destroyed the Al-Shifa plant on August 20 that year in retaliation for bomb attacks blamed on Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network that hit US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing more than 200 people.

Then-president Bill Clinton’s administration said the plant had links to bin Laden and had been making chemical weapons.

Sudan denies the allegations and says the factory produced drugs for the local market.

The US claim has also been disputed by others, including some in Washington, which did not challenge a lawsuit from the factory’s owner to free up assets which had been frozen by US authorities.

“We recall our feeling of bitterness renewed by the fifth anniversary,” Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail told the UN’s annual ministers meeting at the General Assembly.

He said Washington should “rectify this serious mistake” by paying compensation.