Muslim Brotherhood Cell Plotting Attacks Busted in Khartoum

Sudanese authorities revealed on Thursday new
details about the terrorist cell that was arrested for plotting bombings in the
capital, Khartoum.
The general prosecution said a suspected, who was
detained on Tuesday, confessed to belonging to a terrorist network that is
affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
He said the cell was sent to Sudan to carry out
bombings in Khartoum. He had confessed to receiving training on bomb-making and
to smuggling other members of the cell through forged Syrian passports.
The cell had arrived in Sudan six months ago.
Authorities have charged the detainee with terrorism
and possessing weapons and ammunition and issued arrest warrants for the
remaining members of the cell.
Authorities on Tuesday announced the busting of the
cell, which is comprised of Sudanese and foreign members. They also confiscated
bomb-making material in their possession.
Separately, the justice ministry said Thursday Sudan
has agreed to compensate the families of sailors killed in an al-Qaeda attack
on the USS Cole warship 20 years ago, as part of government efforts to remove
the country from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The settlement had been signed on Feb. 7, reported
Reuters. It did not mention the amount paid in compensation, but a source with
knowledge of the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Sudan had
agreed to settle the case for $30 million.
Seventeen sailors were killed and dozens of others
injured in the attack on Oct. 12, 2000 when two men in a small boat detonated
explosives alongside the Navy guided missile destroyer as it was refueling in
the southern Yemeni port of Aden.
Khartoum agreed to settle “only for the purpose of
fulfilling the condition set by the US administration to remove Sudan from its
list of state sponsors of terrorism”, the SUNA news agency said, citing the
justice ministry.
Being designated as a state sponsor of terrorism
makes Sudan ineligible for desperately needed debt relief and financing from
lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Removal from the list potentially opens the door for
foreign investment.
“The government of Sudan would like to point out
that the settlement agreement explicitly affirmed that the government was not
responsible for this incident or any terrorist act,” the justice ministry said
in its statement, cited by SUNA.
The US sailors’ relatives had sued Sudan under the
1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally bars suits against
foreign countries except those designated by the United States as a sponsor of
terrorism, as Sudan has been since 1993.
Sudan did not defend against the claims in court. In
2014, a trial judge found that Sudan’s aid to al-Qaeda “led to the murders” of
the 17 Americans and awarded the families about $35 million, including $14
million in punitive damages.
Sudan then tried to void the judgment, arguing the
lawsuit was not properly served on its foreign minister, violating notification
requirements under US and international law.
The US Supreme Court turned down the bid by the
families last year.