http://www.independent.co.uk/stories/B0405918.html
US admits Sudan bombing mistake
By Andrew Marshall in Washington
THE INDEPENDENT, 05/04/1999
In an admission that last year's
missile attack on a factory in Sudan
was a mistake, the US has cleared the
man who owned the plant of any links to
terrorism.
The embarrassing reversal means that
the US has virtually no evidence to
support its claim that the missile
attack was a strike against terrorism.
Most of those who have investigated the
case have concluded that the US acted
on faulty intelligence and that key
procedures were overriden by officials
in the White House. The affair is
already the subject of congressional
inquiries and may result in the
departure of some senior White House
officials.
America launched cruise missiles
against targets in Afghanistan and
Sudan in August last year after bomb
attacks on its embassies in Nairobi and
Dar es Salaam. It blamed the bombings
on Osama bin Laden, the former Saudi
who it accuses of backing many attacks
on US targets. It said that the
pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum was
linked to Mr bin Laden and was used to
produce chemical weapons.
The US was forced to admit within hours
that the plant was not a Sudanese
government facility, but a private
factory belonging to Salah Idris, a
Saudi businessman. But it then said
that Mr Idris was himself linked to
terrorism and to Mr bin Laden. It froze
all of his bank accounts, including
money held at Bank of America in
London. Yesterday, with no public
announcement or fanfare, it unfroze the
accounts, admitting that no evidence
existed to accuse Mr Idris.
Mr Idris hired Akin, Gump Strauss,
Hauer & Feld, a top Washington law
firm, to press his case. He sued Bank
of America and the US government, and
hired Kroll Associates, the top private
investigators, to clear him. Kroll
found no evidence of any links between
Mr Idris and Mr bin Laden. Yesterday,
the US was due to reply to Mr Idris's
law suits, but instead chose to retreat
and unfreeze the accounts. "Today's
order lifting all restrictions on the
Bank of America accounts also
effectively removes any suggestion that
Mr Idris has, at any time, maintained a
relationship with Osama bin Laden or
any terrorist group or organisation,"
said Akin, Gump in a statement.
Spokesmen for Mr Idris said they were
"jubilant" but that there could still
be a law suit to recover compensation.
"I am grateful that the United States
has taken the honourable course and has
corrected, in part, the serious harm
that has been done to my family and our
good name," said Mr Idris yesterday
from Sudan. "While I understand that
the United States must wage a vigorous
fight against terrorism, in this case a
grave error has been made."
Britain never supported the idea that
Mr Idris had links to Mr bin Laden, and
he was permitted to enter and leave
London (where he maintains a flat)
freely.
The widespread view outside the US was
that the White House had insufficient
evidence for the attack.
