US sued over factory bombing

The owner of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in the Sudanese capital Khartoum has instituted a lawsuit against the US government for its bombing of the premises in 1998, when the US said the factory was involved in producing chemical weapons. Prominent businessman and investor Salah Idris has demanded $50 million in compensation for the bombing, state media reported. Idris called a press conference in England on Thursday and told journalists he had “convincing proof” that the American allegations were “baseless”, Sudanese state television reported. The US hit the Al-Shifa factory in a retaliatory operation after the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, apparently by Islamic fundamentalists. Washington has in the past accused Sudan of sponsoring international terrorists.