(CNN) Sudan will pay a $30 million settlement to the families of 17 US Navy sailors killed in the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in a bid to get itself removed from the United States' list of state sponsors of terrorism, Sudanese officials said.

Sudan's government "explicitly denies" its involvement in the attack and says the payout announced Wednesday is intended to "settle the historical allegations of terrorism left by the former regime." The country's longtime President Omar al-Bashir was ousted in a military coup in April following a lengthy popular uprising.

USS Cole was attacked in 2000 by suicide bombers in a small boat while refueling in the port of Aden in Yemen.

The remains of a sailor killed in the USS Cole attack are carried from a US Air Force transport plane on October 13, 2000 at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the agreement was made "to meet the conditions set by the US administration to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in order to normalize relations with the United States and the rest of the world."

The Cole was attacked by suicide bombers in a small boat filled with explosives while refueling in the port of Aden in Yemen. The attack also wounded 39 sailors.

The bombing was attributed to al Qaeda and foreshadowed the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, less than a year later.

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