NAIROBI, July 31 – An American law firm now intends to sue Iran and Sudan for their alleged involvement in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Kenya.
Gavriel Mairone’s law firm, Mann and Mairone, together with two other US law firms said that they would file the suit in Washington DC next Thursday on behalf of Kenyan victims.
Mairone expressed confidence that they would implicate Sudan and Iran in the attack that killed about 250 people.
“We have significant evidence indicating that senior government officials of the Republic of Sudan and of the Islamic Republic of Iran provided such support and finance to Al Qaeda,” he said.
The lawyer stated that the two countries were liable for the deaths, injuries and other destruction caused by the bombing.
Mairone, who arrived in the country on Wednesday, noted that Iran had for a long time topped the list of terrorist countries, while Sudan was also named in the top ten.
The lawyer further claimed that Iran established terrorist training bases in Sudan and also provided arms and funds to train Afghan war veterans, who were all members of Al-Qaeda.
He however expressed fears that those linked to terrorist attacks would frustrate the case by funding lawyers.
Mairone also said that the case was likely to take a minimum of four years.
“Such cases can take long, maybe three to four years or even more; suing governments is difficult and quite a challenge,” he said.
The aim of the suit is to compensate victims of the bombing, including immediate family members.
The victims have until Monday to hand in their claim forms to the law firms, before the case is filed in court on August 6, 2008.
Some of the victims were however doubtful that they would get any compensation, saying it has been ten years down the line and no sort of compensation had been extended to them.
