The owner of the Sudanese pharmaceutical factory destroyed by US cruise missiles last August, Salah Idris, has won a key victory in his campaign to win an admission from the US authorities that they bombed his factory in error.

In response to a law suit brought by Mr Idris's Washington lawyers, the US Treasury has unfrozen Mr Idris's US bank accounts, implicitly acknowledging that they do not have evidence to justify their action against him.

The attack on the El Shifa factory was in retaliation for the bombing of two American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which Washington officials believed had been masterminded by the Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

US officials claimed the factory had been used to manufacture chemical weapons and was "associated with the bin Laden network". But Salah Idris has always denied any connection with the Saudi dissident.

"I have no links whatsoever with Osama bin Laden, nor have I had any direct or indirect dealings with him or with any of his agents or associates. I was amazed by this allegation and I think it is up to my accusers to prove their charges," he said.

Mr Idris was born in Sudan and made his fortune in banking in Saudi Arabia. He became a Saudi citizen after living and working in the kingdom since the 1970s, but retains an interest in the country of his birth.

He says he bought the factory both as an investment and to help to people of Sudan by providing medicines at a third of their imported price.

Investigations

Salah Idris's Washington lawyers, Akin, Gump, Hauer and Feld, hired the prestigious detective agency Kroll Associates to conduct an independent investigation into the plant. The aim was establish a record of facts concerning the previous ownership and the acquisition and management of the plant.

The US says the factory manufactured chemical weapons

The report found no evidence that Salah Idris had ever met or had any dealings with Osama bin Laden, or any other extremist Islamic individuals or groups.

It also refuted allegations, voiced by some US officials, that Iraqi officials were involved in the production of chemical weapons at the factory.

George Salem of Akin Gump said that they found that the plant was a legitimate commercial operation "wholly engaged in the production of pharmaceuticals for sale on domestic and international markets".

The law firm also hired a professor of chemistry at Boston University to supervise a scientific study to investigate US claims that a chemical weapons precurser had been found in soil samples taken from the vicinity of the plant. This study found no evidence to support the US allegations.

On the strength of these studies, Salah Idris filed complaints in two US federal district courts - one against the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in Washington, the other against the Bank of America, which carried out a US government order to freeze his assets.

Salah Idris denies links with Osama bin Laden

Justice officials say they decided to unfreeze the assets rather than reveal sensitive intelligence information to the public. But Salah Idris's lawyers say the government chose not to put up a defence because they had no evidence that would be sustainable in a court of law.

On the day that the US government was legally required to respond to the suit, it ordered the full and unconditional release of Mr Idris's funds.

Compensation

Salah Idris himself says he is not bitter and understands that every state is entitled to take action to protect itself within the law. His main motive has always been to clear his name.

"The aim was to get across to the American public and US institutions that I am innocent. I am seeking justice and to show that a mistake was made".