Series of EmergencyNet News Reports Concerning the Trial of Four Suspected Terrorists, Charged With Complicity in the Bombing of Two U.S. Embassies in Africa:
 02 Feb to 10 July 2001

10 July 2001 - 10:15CDT

African Embassy Bomber Given Life Sentence

From ERRI/EmergencyNet News Watchdesk

New York, NY (EmergencyNet News) -- A verdict was announced a short time ago at a NYC courthouse, in the case of a convicted African embassy bomber, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed. He was reportedly given a life sentence (without possibility of parole), not the death penalty, because jurors seemed to believe that a death sentence would have made him "a martyr."

17 May 2001

TERRORISM/WORLDWIDE: 

JURY IN TERRORIST TRIAL ASKS FOR FATWAS

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

The jury in the Manhattan trial of four alleged terrorists on Wednesday to see the fatwa's (religious decrees) issued  between 1996 and 1998 by Saudi dissidents, calling for the  killing of Americans. Contained within the fatwa's is text saying it was a Muslims duty to "kill American's everywhere" and not distinguish between military and civilian personnel. 

Standing trial is four men accused of bombing the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998 and conspiring to attack American citizens. Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a 27-year-old Tanzanian, Mohamed al-'Owhali, a 24-year-old Saudi, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, a 35-year-old Jordanian and naturalized American Wadih el Hage, 40-years-old all face a long imprisonment or the death penalty if found guilty. 

The documents that were requested by the jury during closing arguments, were co-authored by Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. They were part of a failed attempt to create a Muslim uprising against American troops in Saudi Arabia. A video taped interview between bin Laden and American journalist Peter Arnett will also be presented.

Bin Laden is believed to be the terrorist who ordered the embassy bombings that killed 224 people. He is also suspected to have played a role in the bombing that killed 17 American servicemen on board the USS Cole in October last year. Suspected to be living in Afghanistan, the U.S. government is offering $5 million for information leading to his arrest.

EmergencyNet News, in an award winning article, first published an English language translation of a key 23 Feb 98 fatwa. It can be found on the internet at: http://www.emergency.com/bladen98.htm

27 Apr 2001

NYC/SOMALIA: 

Prosecution Dealt Serious Blow In Embassy Bombing Trial

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

An integral part of the prosecution's case linking four men to a ten-year conspiracy against the United States was dropped on Thursday after the defense counsel successfully argued that there was insufficient evidence to show a link between them and the death of 18 American soldiers in Somalia. The prosecution had laid claim that 18 Americans were killed by Usama bin Laden operatives during a clash in the Somali capital of Mogadishu in October 1993, but according to the judge they had not presented strong enough evidence linking the Somali fighters to a conspiracy to kill Americans.

Standing in the five month-old trial, is four men accused of bombing the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998. More than 300 indictments have been filed against Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a 27-year-old Tanzanian, Mohamed al-'Owhali, a 24-year-old Saudi, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, a 35-year-old Jordanian and naturalized American Wadih el Hage, 40-years-old. All except el Hage are accused of playing a direct role in the bombings.

Judge Leonard B. Sands, who is presiding over the trial in Manhattan, said on Thursday there was no evidence to support the government's claim that Somali fighters who killed the American's in Mogadishu, had been trained in bin Laden camps. They therefore could not be linked to the allegations of a conspiracy, planned and carried out by bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organization.

Defendant Mohamed Sadeek Odeh was accused of being among the Al-Qaeda members who conducted training camps for the Somali fighters who killed the American's, but judge Sands found the evidence delivered was not enough to carry in the trial. In fact, much of the prosecution's case had rested on the testimony of U.S. helicopter pilot James Yacone who was flying an army Blackhawk on the night of the incident. Despite giving evidence that Somali fighters were using rocket propelled grenades (RPG) to shoot down American aircraft, a tactic taught in bin Laden camps, Yacone was unable to tell the court anything that indicated they were exclusively bin Laden fighters. The Somali fighters were reportedly under the command of warlord Mohamed Fararah Aidid during the fighting.

Prosecution lawyers claimed that Yacone's testimony about Arabic transmissions during the incident in Somalia was an indication that bin Laden fighters were on the scene. However, judge Sands dismissed this when the defense argued that many Somalis used Arabic as a second language in the region. When the defense counsel cross-examined Yacone, asking him directly who trained the Somali's, he replied: "I am not really sure who was training Aidid's group."

The trial, which focuses on linking the four accused to the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, has also examined a wider conspiracy by bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network. Attorneys for the prosecution claim the conspiracy was to force American's out of Saudi Arabia and other predominantly Muslim regions where bin Laden had influence.

03 Apr 2001

UNITED STATES

Fake Passport Led to Embassy Bombing Arrest

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

Traveling with a fake passport and under an assumed name, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh immediately drew the suspicions of immigration officials in Pakistan, a jury in the U.S. embassies bombing trial heard on Monday. Testimony from an airport immigration officer in Karachi, Pakistan, revealed that Odeh's passport didn't look anything like him and he was quickly arrested and interrogated just hours before the U.S. embassies were bombed.

Odeh, a 36-year-old Jordanian national, is one of four men on trial for their alleged roles in the conspiracy that led to the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, that killed 224 people including 12 Americans and injured more than 4,500 others. The indictments against Odeh only charge him with assisting preparations for the Nairobi, Kenya attack, but not actually carrying it out.

Odeh had left Nairobi on a Pakistani Airways flight and landed in Karachi about four hours before the truck bomb exploded at the U.S. embassy in Kenya. Prosecutors showed the jury his plane ticket and Yemeni-issued passport, both documents bearing the name "Abdullbast Awadah", an alias Odeh had used to register at Nairobi's Hilltop Hilton over four nights prior to the embassy bombing.

Pakistani immigration officer Sohail Anjum testified that he proceeded to re-check the passport because the man in the photograph had darker skin and a beard, unlike the clean-shaven Odeh. When Odeh was questioned about the difference in appearance, Anjum told the jury, "he responded by saying this was my imagining". "I was convinced this passport was not his... he couldn't even look me straight in the eyes", Anjum added.

During cross-examination by defense attorney's Carl Herman and Anthony Ricco, they expressed concerns regarding improper handling of evidence by the Pakistani authorities, who didn't wear gloves when searching Odeh's belongings. The evidence included clothes, a bed sheet, books and magazines and other items later tested by the FBI for explosives residue.

The prosecution plans to finish presenting it's case on Wednesday, three months earlier than expected. Legal experts say the prosecution shortened the original witness list and delivered swift presentations, sparing the court week's of potentially slow and low-value testimony.

14 Mar 2001

UNITED STATES

Terrorist Trial Prosecution Focuses on Kenyan Bombing

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

Jurors heard first-hand accounts from witnesses who experienced the devastating bomb blast that damaged the U.S. embassy in Kenya on August 7, 1998, on Tuesday at the trial of four al-Qaeda members. For the first time in six week-old federal trial being held in New York, prosecutors focused on details relating to the Kenyan embassy bombing.

Prosecutors opened Tuesday's proceedings by calling the most senior American diplomat who was present at the embassy when the bomb exploded. John Lange, who was the U.S. charge d'affaires in Tanzania at the time, described how he was attending a meeting on the third floor of the embassy building when a deep rumble and explosion shattered his office windows. "I now understand what it's like when your parachute doesn't open and your whole life passes before your eyes," Lange told the court.

After the blast, Lange said he heard a series of smaller explosions, similar to gunshots. Investigators later determined these were car tires and gas tanks exploding in burning vehicles parked near the embassy. Lange told the court that after determining that his injuries were superficial, he instinctively called the State Department operations center in Washington using a telephone on the embassy grounds. In his post-bombing state he told officials: "There's been a huge explosion, a lot of damage to the building. You won't be hearing from me for a while."

The second witness to deliver testimony on Tuesday was Justina Mdobilu, an embassy translator who was at the meeting with Lange when the explosion occurred. "I suddenly saw what was like a flash of lightning for a split second and what sounded like a thunderstorm went on for 15 seconds," Mdobilu recalled. She described how pieces of glass became caught in her braided hair and her arms were cut as she shielded her face from flying glass. Mdobilu, who was eight months pregnant at the time, told the court how after the blast she climbed over cement blocks to get outside, then used a ladder to scale an embassy wall to safety.

A third prosecution witness, State Department information officer Elizabeth Slater, who began work at the embassy two days before the bombing, also delivered testimony on Tuesday. She told of how everything went "black" immediately after the bombing and that the air had an oily, gritty feel to it. A wall had collapsed on her and a colleague, but she managed to free herself. Slater told the court how she made her way down a stair well, littered with "all kinds of body parts", to safety. Slater also recounted how she saw a security guard near the truck detonated: "He didn't have any skin left... I just wished he would hurry up and die."

The bombing killed 11 and injured 85 others. Defendants Mohamed Rashe Daoud al'Owhali and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh are accused of being directly involved in the planning of the Kenyan bombing. A third defendant, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, is accused of direct involvement in the Tanzanian bombing. The trial's fourth defendant, naturalized American Wahid el Hage, is accused of participating in the conspiracy behind both attacks. Combined, all four face a total of 300 charges including individual counts for the 213 killed in the Tanzania bombing and 11 in Kenya.

08 Mar 2001

UNITED STATES

Testimony Describes Larger Plot in Embassy Bombings

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

Access, greater publicity and being part of a larger plan were cited as the reason the Embassy in Nairobi was bombed, according to a FBI agent who interrogated accused bomber Mohamed al-'Owhali. The U.S. District Court in New York heard testimony on Wednesday, given by FBI Special Agent Stephen Gaudin who interrogated al-'Owhali for four days after his arrest in Kenya.

Agent Gaudin told how Al-'Owhali said that the embassy in Nairobi was targeted partly because it had a female ambassador. "If she were killed, it would further [add] publicity for the bombing." During the interrogation the accused also said that another reason the embassy was targeted was because it had a large U.S. presence and was very easy to hit.

The court also heard how Al-'Owahli told Gaudin of an unfinished plan to launch attacks inside the U.S.: "There are targets in the United States that we could hit. Yes, but things aren't ready yet ... Many attacks outside the United States would weaken the United States and make way for our attacks in the United States."

Gaudin described how the accused was insistent that his story be told in America, "He would tell us of his involvement in the bombing of the embassy if we'd guarantee he would be tried in a United States court." Al-'Owhali wanted the chance to air his story before U.S. citizens, "because America is my enemy and Kenya is not," he told agent Gaudin.

According to the testimony, al-'Owhali never pledged allegiance to Usamah bin Laden's group, al Qaeda, but he was familiar with bin Laden's violent Fatwahs (religious decrees).

Al-'Owhali was arrested August 12, 1998 in a hotel on the outskirts of Nairobi after Kenyan police received a tip off. He was interrogated by Gaudin ten days later, during which time the accused told interrogators details from his upbringing in Saudi Arabia and teachings in Islam, to military training in Afghanistan and fighting communist forces.

Toward the end of his testimony, Gaudin described how al-'Owhali rode the bomb laden truck to the embassy on the morning of August 7, then threw stun grenades at a guard creating a diversion for his accomplice to drive behind the building. He then explained further how al-'Owahali and the three other defendants accused of the embassy attacks that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, were part of a larger plan by bin Laden to bomb American targets worldwide.

Also at the courthouse on Wednesday, more than a dozen witnesses took the stand and described the bloody scene shortly after the bombings. U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Briehl told how he was bleeding and had hurt his back falling two floors down an elevator shaft after the Nairobi explosion. He said that while searching for medical help, he found a gentleman who was wearing a white shirt and covered totally in blood. "I told myself that if I could still stand, I could still do my job and I went back up on the steps then and put a set of gear on and took post on the front steps for a while," Briehl told the court.

03 Mar 2001

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT-Vol. 7, No. 062

Agent Reveals Al-Qaeda Operations And Codes

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

The U.S. District Court of New York heard on Friday about the operation of Usama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network during a testimony by FBI agent John Anticev who interrogated one of the accused shortly after his arrest. Agent Anticev described how Mohamed Sadeek Odeh told him of the terrorist cell's structure and gave code words used by the network to communicate.

Also during Friday's proceedings, the Defense attorney attempted to portray Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, one of the four accused in the embassy bombings trial, as a simple fisherman who lived in a mud brick home.

Odeh denies he played a role in the August 8, 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi but admits being in the company of the bombers shortly before the attack. His case was dealt a blow on Thursday when prosecutors entered as evidence two sketches drawn by Odeh showing a plan of the embassy, complete with arrows showing the planned route and position of the truck bomb.

Agent Anticev told the court how during a lengthy interrogation session with Odeh, he revealed that the terrorist cell in Nairobi was split into two groups. One group would carry out the surveillance and procurement of supplies for the attack and the second carried out the attack.

Odeh had said the first group would assess the target's construction and vulnerability. From the information they collected, decisions could be made about the type and amount of explosives needed in the attack. He told agent Anticev that if the surveillance could not be done properly, the group would set up a food cart, taxi stand, or barber shop nearby as an observation post.

Agent Anticev said that Odeh also gave him a partial key to the system of code words used by al Qaeda operatives in communications: "working" meant jihad, "tools" meant weapons, "potatoes" meant hand grenades, "papers" meant bad documents and "goods" meant fake documents.

After the testimony Defense attorney's used FBI photographs to portray Odeh as a poor Kenyan fisherman living in a mudbrick home with no telephone or toilet in the village of Witu. The photographs showed Odeh's home and his "poor" living conditions. However, testimony from fishing inspector Kibarua Mjitla who knew Odeh well, disputed that his existence was as impoverished as the defense was making it out to be. Mjitla told how Odeh would give him rides in his 1990 Toyota Corolla, a luxury in a country where the per capita income is less than $1,600 per year.

The fishing inspector also described to the court Odeh's strange fishing habits of returning late at night when all the inspectors had gone off duty. Mjitla said he complained to Odeh about this and asked him to change his habits. Odeh willingly complied.

Odeh was formally indicted on June 16, 1999, by the United States Attorney of the Southern District of New York for acting together, with other members of al Qaeda and conspiracy to murder United States nationals. Odeh, as well as one of the other defendants, is eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

02 Mar 2001 

From: ERRI DAILY INTELLIGENCE REPORT -- Vol. 7, No. 061

Former US Ambassador To Kenya Takes Witness Stand; Describes Gruesome Scene After Bombing

By Jeremy Zakis, ERRI Analyst

The former U.S. Ambassador to Kenya delivered a disturbing account of the moments before and after the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya that killed 213 people and wounded at least 4,000 others, during witness testimony on Thursday. During the day's proceedings, the prosecution also entered two sketches of the embassy building and compound into evidence. The drawings had allegedly been produced by one of the accused.

Former U.S. Ambassador Prudence Bushnell told the U.S. District Court in New York on Thursday how she thought she was going to die as she descended a blood-soaked stairwell in the high-rise bank building next to the embassy following the devastating blast. Bushnell described how she was on the top floor of the neighboring building when a loud bang (later determined to be a stun grenade) followed by a massive explosion occurred outside. "I thought to myself, the building was going to collapse, I was going to tumble down all those stories, and I was going to die," she told the court.

After briefly losing consciousness following the explosion, Bushnell said that she made her way to a stairwell and escaped the building. "There was blood everywhere on the banister. I could feel the person behind me bleeding onto me and my lower back," she said. "I looked up and saw a burning vehicle. I saw the charred remains of what was once a human being. I saw the back of the [embassy] building totally ripped off. I saw utter destruction, and I knew no one was going to take care of me," Bushnell recounted.

During her 45-minute testimony, the four defendants accused of playing a part in the embassy bombings sat silently displaying no emotion. The defense lawyers attempted a tough cross-examination of Bushnell but were stopped by Judge Leonard B Sand after they began probing whether she had received any security threats prior to the attack. Both prosecution and defense lawyers entered a ten-minute private discussion with the judge in his chambers before returning to the session. The defense did not continue with their cross-examination.

Questions by lawyers for the defense may have been indirectly hinting toward a government report that said Bushnell received information a terrorist cell was operating in the region. The former ambassador had complained to the U.S. State Department and then U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright about security not being sufficient at the embassy, but no action was ever taken. Thursday's court session ended with the prosecution playing a 25-minute tape showing the gory aftermath of the Kenyan explosion.

The four men on trial are believed to have been part of Usama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a 27-year-old Tanzanian, is accused of playing a direct role in the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Tanzania. Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, 36, a Jordanian and Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, 24, a Saudi, are both accused of bombing the U.S. Embassy in Kenya. The fourth defendant, American Wadih el Hage, 40, is accused of being part of a decade-long conspiracy to kill Americans. The trial is expected to take several months.

27 Feb 2001

WORLD-WIDE:

An International Terrorist Alliance; Exploring the "Republic of Jihadistan"

While putting together his organization of crazed extremist fighters, master terrorist Usama bin Laden in the 1990s decided that Al Qaeda (The base) needed something more -- like foreign allies. Federal prosecutors allege that throughout the decade, Al Qaeda leaders worked on a three-way alliance with the Islamic Front of Sudan and elements of the Iranian government. 

US officials say this terrorist version of NATO may have never really solidified. But the mere fact that bin Laden planned it shows the breadth of his ambition. In his quest to wage jihad, or holy war, against the United States, bin Laden may have constructed something that is bigger than a guerrilla group and more complex than a multi-national corporation. Call it a "virtual country" - the Republic of Jihadistan. Richard Rosecrance, an expert on terrorism at the University of California at Berkeley, describes it: "It has state-like aspects, but without state borders."

Gideon Rose, deputy director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, notes that a century ago, a dedicated transnational terrorist group - anarchists - wreaked havoc around the globe. Between 1894 and 1901, anarchists assassinated the president of France, the prime minister of Spain, the empress of Austria, the king of Italy, and William McKinley, president of the United States. Rose said: "We've all forgotten just how successful they were. Imagine how worked up we'd be if some group knocked off so many heads of state today."

But bin Laden's network appears to represent the coming thing in the age of modern terrorism. The sponsorship of terror groups by geographical states such as Syria and Libya appears to be on the decline. Their place is being taken by virtual states such as Al Qaeda, which have little physical infrastructure to attack and less in the way of safe harbors against which economic sanctions can be effective.

Recently, the director of the US National Security Agency publicly complained that Al Qaeda's sophisticated use of the Internet and encryption techniques have defied Western eavesdropping attempts. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet told Congress this month that bin Laden and his network are the nation's most immediate and serious transnational threat.

Officials remain worried that bin Laden's network will link with other networks to become a terrorist Warsaw Pact. A recent CIA study of the world of 2015 concluded that while it is not the most likely future, it is possible that "the trend towards more diverse, free-wheeling transnational terrorist networks will lead to the formation of an international terrorist coalition with diverse anti-Western objectives and access to Weapons of Mass Destruction."

Bin Laden's Jihadistan has been under particular scrutiny in recent days due to the ongoing trial in New York City of four of his alleged followers on charges that they conspired to bomb the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998. The government's first witness in the trial, a man named Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, who describes himself as a former Al Qaeda paymaster, has painted a vivid and detailed picture of bin Laden's organization. He has described the organization's former headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan, where bin Laden had an office in which work went on like anyplace in the world - except it dealt with such things as the purchase of clandestine passports and the purchase of uranium and elements of chemical weapons.

The alleged bin Laden insider also described the organization's "foreign policy." Al Qaeda had relations with a number of different terrorist organizations, he said, including some in Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Syria, the Philippines, and Chechnya. Other counter-terrorist analysts say that Bin Laden and al-Qaeda may have contacts in as many as 22 nations...

23 Feb 2001

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: 

Second Bin Laden Defector Tells of Targeting Bomb Sites; Long Term Planning Indicated

A second former associate from Islamic militant Usama bin Laden's terrorist organization testified on Wednesday that the group identified potential targets in Nairobi, Kenya, as early as four years before a massive bomb exploded at the US embassy in that African city in August 1998. The witness, 36-year-old L'Houssaine Kherchtou, said that defendant Wadih El-Hage was his superior in Kenya. 

He said he participated with Mohamed Sadeek Odeh in training camps run by bin Laden in Afghanistan and that Odeh had traveled to Somalia on behalf of bin Laden's group al-Qaeda (the Base). Kherchtou said that, at the end of 1994 or early in 1995, followers of bin Laden visited the apartment he rented in Nairobi. He said they had cameras and computers and put blankets over windows while they developed surveillance photographs.

His testimony appeared to corroborate the guilty plea in October of Ali A Mohamed, a former U.S. Army sergeant, who had been indicted on conspiracy charges in the bombings of the embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. When he changed his plea, Mohamed told the court that in late 1993 he was asked by bin Laden to conduct surveillance of U.S., British, French and Israeli targets in Nairobi as part of a plan to retaliate against the United States for its involvement in Somalia.

Kherchtou said he was sent to Kenya by al-Qaeda to train as a pilot and to assist other group members who were opposed to the presence of United Nations forces in Somalia. He told the jury: "Some people in al-Qaeda were in Somalia. There were many people working in Somalia training people." Kherchtou said Bin Laden's followers at one point plotted to help Somalians opposed to the United Nations' presence who wanted to detonate explosives in a car at a U.N. compound. They plan, he said, didn't work. He provided no further details.

Kherchtou's testimony underscored what has become clear during the trial: Several defectors from bin Laden's organization have provided Western intelligence agencies with significant information about the group's operating methods and membership.

22 Feb 2001

09 Feb 2001 - From http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

08 Feb 2001 - From http://www.emergency.com/ennday.htm

Trial Begins to Reveal Al-Qaeda; Bin Laden Minion Tells Of Order To Murder Americans 

A member of the al-Qaeda terrorist umbrella group testified in New York on Tuesday that the leadership of a militant Islamic organization led by master terrorist Usama bin Laden ordered its operatives to attack U.S. bases and "not to worry about civilian deaths." Jamal Ahmed Alfadl, the first witness in a trial against four bin Laden minions charged in the August 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, testified about the al-Qaeda (the Base) group's hierarchy, his work with bin Laden, and a series of fatwahs or religious decrees received by al-Qaeda members.

Alfadl testified that at one meeting the al-Qaeda leadership said the killing of civilians was allowed if they were near attacks on U.S. military bases. The trial is based on a long indictment against bin Laden and a group of his associates accusing them in plots that began in 1989 and included the bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya which caused extensive civilian casualties.

The indictment focuses on the alleged activities of al-Qaeda, described by prosecutors as an "international terrorist group" run by bin Laden. The group is "dedicated to opposing non-Islamic governments with force and violence" with a goal of driving U.S. armed forces out of Saudi Arabia and Somalia. The indictment charges that bin Laden endorsed a fatwah, or religious decree, stating Muslims should kill Americans -- including civilians -- anywhere in the world.

Those on trial for conspiring with bin Laden are 40-year-old Wadih El-Hage, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon; Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, age 24, a Saudi Arabian; 27-year-old Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a Tanzanian; and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, age 35, a Jordanian. Mohamed and al-'Owhali could face the death penalty if convicted.

During Tuesday's testimony Alfadl said he had been among the first members of al-Qaeda, which bin Laden formed as part of Muslim efforts to fight the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Alfadl said he later helped move al-Qaeda's operations to Sudan where he worked at the organization's offices with bin Laden. He said that beginning in 1991, at the time of the Gulf war, he had been at meetings of al-Qaeda members where they learned of various fatwahs against Americans. Alfadl said bin Laden along with other leaders issued a fatwah at that time. He said: "It said we can't let Americans stay in the holy area ... we have to do something to take them out ... to fight them."

Alfadl said the group's leadership issued later orders about attacking the U.S. military including one in late 1992 or early 1993 due to growing concern about U.S. forces in Somalia. H said: "If they succeed in Somalia, they'll be in the Sudan...They want to take over all the countries."

According to Alfadl, the leadership at a later meeting said the loss of civilians was permitted if they were near attacks on the U.S. military. Among those at the meeting was Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, a high-level adviser to bin Laden. Salim, who was indicted with the other defendants, was severed from the trial after he allegedly attacked a prison guard in November, driving a sharpened comb through his eye and into his brain. He will be facing separate attempted murder charges at a later date.

Alfadl said Salim interpreted the fatwah to mean if Muslims plan to bomb a U.S. military building and civilians are nearby "you don't have a choice ... you should do it and don't have to worry about that."

The following is the U.S. State Department profile of the al-Qaeda (also spelled as al-Qaida) terrorist organization:

Description:

Established by Usama Bin Laden about 1990 to bring together Arabs who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet invasion. Helped finance, recruit, transport, and train Sunni Islamic extremists for the Afghan resistance. Current goal is to "reestablish the Muslim state" throughout the world.

Allegedly works with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems "non-Islamic" and remove Westerners from Muslim countries. Issued statement under banner of "The World Islamic Front for Jihad Against The Jews and Crusaders" in February 1998, saying it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens, civilian or military, and their allies everywhere.

Activities:

Allegedly conducted the bombings in August 1998 of the US Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed at least 301 persons and injured more than 5,000 others. Claims to have shot down US helicopters and killed US servicemen in Somalia in 1993 and to have conducted three bombings targeted against the US troop presence in Aden, Yemen, in December 1992.

Linked to plans for attempted terrorist operations, including the assassination of the Pope during his visit to Manila in late 1994, simultaneous bombings of the US and Israeli Embassies in Manila and other Asian capitals in late 1994, the midair bombing of a dozen US trans-Pacific flights in 1995, and a plan to kill President Clinton during a visit to the Philippines in early 1995. Continues to train, finance, and provide logistic support to terrorist groups that support these goals.

Strength:

May have several hundred to several thousand members. Also serves as a focal point for a loose network or umbrella organization that includes many Sunni Islamic extremist groups, including factions of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Gama'at al-Islamiyya, and the Harakat ul-Mujahidin. (ERRI analysts say that there are alleged links to a number of other groups as well, including organizations in "the Stans," The Mid-East, The Balkans, The Philippines, Indonesia, and Chechnya)

Location/Area of Operation:

The Embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam underscore al-Qaeda's global reach. Bin Ladin and his key lieutenants reside in Afghanistan and the group reportedly maintains terrorist training camps there.

External Aid:

Bin Ladin, son of a billionaire Saudi family, is said to have inherited around $300 million that he uses to finance the group. Al-Qaeda also maintains a number of moneymaking businesses, collects donations from like-minded supporters, and illicitly siphons funds from donations to Muslim charitable organizations.

05 Feb 2001

NEW YORK CITY:  

U.S.A. vrs. Bin Laden

Prosecutors called their secret witness today in the trial of four men charged in the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies, a Sudanese man who testified he was one of the first members of fugitive Usama bin Laden's terror network. Jamal Ahmed Alfadl, the first witness called in the trial, said bin Laden formed the al-Qaeda group in the late 1980s to "change our governments." Prosecutors had kept Alfadl's identity secret until he took the stand, one day after Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Butler said that the 7 August 1998, bombings of the embassies were the work of al-Qaeda and part of a worldwide conspiracy to kill Americans.

02 Feb 2001  (Preceding Supplemental)

NEW YORK CITY:

Tight Security As Bomb Trial Begins In New York City

Construction crews have been working through freezing weather for the past week in an effort to finish strengthening security measures in time for Monday's opening statements in the case of the United States vrs. the associates of terrorist mastermind Usama bin Laden. Among the security measures installed for the trial are steel barricades that can rise into place to stop up to 7.5 tons of speeding truck and cameras capable of reading a newspaper a block away.

Four of bin Laden's alleged minions are going on trial on conspiracy charges in the 7 August 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 224 people, 12 of them Americans.

Ray Kelly, whose tenure as NYPD commissioner encompassed the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center, said that the new security improvements around two adjacent federal court buildings in lower Manhattan are "important substantially and symbolically." He added: "I'm confident there are no specific threats out there, but given the developments over the last few years, this is a smart move. It acts as a major deterrent."

The security measures involve the Daniel Patrick Moynihan US Courthouse and the historic old US Courthouse, which are located in the Foley Square area packed with federal, state and city court and other government buildings...

(The Associated Press, Reuters News Service, CNN, FoxNews, the U.S. Dept. of State, and numerous private sources contributed to these reports.)

Some Selected Articles :

Update: Summary of Recent EmergencyNet News Reports on Osama Bin Laden and the Al-Qaeda Organization - 01 Jan 99 to 05 Jan 99

Series of Reports; USA Tries to Protect Embassies and Dismantle bin Laden's al-Qaida Terror Network - 17 Sept 98 to 24 Sept 98

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