Bombings Africa

A terrorism suspect accused in connection with the U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa jumped from his courtroom seat and charged to within several feet of a judge before being tackled by U.S. marshals in New York City. "My heart was pounding," said Jane Rosenberg, a courtroom artist who was seated near the judge. "I was scared. I was shaking. He leapt like Tarzan."

The Obama administration's prosecution of major foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. civilian courts has hit another roadblock, after a judge in New York disallowed testimony this week from the government's key witness against a prisoner about to stand trial in connection with the U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998. The trial of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani is being closely watched as a test case for the legal system over whether a "high-value" detainee held in a secret CIA location and later at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, can be tried and convicted under the rules of American criminal law. The dispute sits at the heart of this still-unresolved debate over whether terrorism suspects should be held as military prisoners or tried as criminals.

A founding member of Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization testified Wednesday that he warned American authorities in 1996 that the organization was plotting to attack a U.S. embassy--two years before bombs decimated two embassies in East Africa, killing 224 people. "I have information about people. They want to do something against your government," Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, a former Bin Laden aide, said he told an embassy official when he sought asylum.

Again stating that execution might turn a terrorist into a martyr, a federal court jury Tuesday spared the life of a second man convicted in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed 224 people. At the start of their third day of penalty-phase deliberations, the jurors announced that they could not reach agreement on whether Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a 27-year-old native of Tanzania, should be executed.

Again stating that execution might turn a terrorist into a martyr, a federal court jury Tuesday spared the life of a second man convicted in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa that killed 224 people. At the start of their third day of penalty-phase deliberations, the jurors announced that they could not reach agreement on whether Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a 27-year-old native of Tanzania, should be executed.

A suspected top aide to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi millionaire accused of organizing the deadly bombings at U.S. embassies in Africa this summer, will soon be extradited to the United States from Germany, a government spokesman said Saturday. A report by the Hamburg-based weekly Welt am Sonntag said Mamduh Mahmud Salim, who is jailed in Munich, would be extradited Monday.

A once-trusted aide of Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden provided a jury on Tuesday the most direct and intimate portrait publicly available of the Saudi militant's terror network designed to drive Americans from the Middle East. The former aide said Bin Laden was enraged when U.S. forces led the Persian Gulf War against Iraq in 1991 and when it later sent troops into Somalia in 1993.

A second defector from Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization testified Wednesday that the group identified potential targets in Nairobi, Kenya, as early as four years before a massive bomb exploded at the American embassy in that African city. L'Houssaine Kherchtou, 36, pointed out in the courtroom two of the four defendants charged with bombing U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people in 1998. Kherchtou said that Wadih El-Hage, a naturalized U.S.

A federal jury began deliberating on whether four followers of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden are guilty of participating in a terrorist conspiracy that culminated in the August 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Judge Leonard Sand wrapped up the three-month trial after reading 140 pages of instructions to the jury.

Lawyers for a terrorist convicted in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 213 people made American policy toward Iraq the centerpiece of their defense Monday to try to save him from a death sentence. Former Atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark testified that devastation caused by the Gulf War, followed by a decade of U.S.-supported United Nations sanctions, have caused "a catastrophe of enormous magnitude."

Lawyers for a terrorist convicted in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed 213 people made American policy toward Iraq the centerpiece of their defense Monday to try to save him from a death sentence. Former Atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark testified that devastation caused by the Gulf War, followed by a decade of U.S.-supported United Nations sanctions, have caused "a catastrophe of enormous magnitude."

The Constitutional Court here ruled Monday that the South African government acted unconstitutionally in sending a suspected American Embassy bomber to the United States to face the death penalty and should have instead sought to protect him from this punishment. The hand-over to the FBI of Tanzanian citizen Khalfan Khamis Mohamed was rife with irregularities, Constitutional Court President Arthur Chaskalson said.

A federal jury began deliberating on whether four followers of Saudi exile Osama bin Laden are guilty of participating in a terrorist conspiracy that culminated in the August 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Judge Leonard Sand wrapped up the three-month trial after reading 140 pages of instructions to the jury.

A second defector from Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization testified Wednesday that the group identified potential targets in Nairobi, Kenya, as early as four years before a massive bomb exploded at the American embassy in that African city. L'Houssaine Kherchtou, 36, pointed out in the courtroom two of the four defendants charged with bombing U.S. embassies in Africa that killed 224 people in 1998. Kherchtou said that Wadih El-Hage, a naturalized U.S.

A former member of Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization said Tuesday that the group considered bombing the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in 1994. Under cross-examination by defense lawyers, Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl testified that Egyptian extremists in the group called al-Qaeda, which means the Base, proposed blowing up the embassy, but the plan was rejected after Saudi members of the group protested.

He is well known as the accused mastermind of an international terrorist network dedicated to thwarting American influence in the Middle East and ruthlessly killing to advance his cause. But testimony in a heavily guarded federal courtroom last week also paints a surprising portrait of Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden as an organizational man beset with responsibilities ranging from real estate management to medical reimbursements.

A former member of Islamic militant Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization said Tuesday that the group considered bombing the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, in 1994. Under cross-examination by defense lawyers, Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl testified that Egyptian extremists in the group called al-Qaeda, which means the Base, proposed blowing up the embassy, but the plan was rejected after Saudi members of the group protested.

A suspected top aide to Osama Bin Laden, the Saudi exile accused of being behind the U.S. embassy bombings in East Africa, was turned over to American officials for extradition to the United States. Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, 40, was taken to Munich's airport and placed on a flight to an undisclosed U.S. location, a Bavarian Justice Ministry spokesman said. U.S. officials have charged Salim with conspiracy to commit murder and use of weapons of mass destruction in a plot to kill U.S. citizens.

A founding member of Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization testified Wednesday that he warned American authorities in 1996 that the organization was plotting to attack a U.S. embassy--two years before bombs decimated two embassies in East Africa, killing 224 people. "I have information about people. They want to do something against your government," Jamal Ahmed Al-Fadl, a former Bin Laden aide, said he told an embassy official when he sought asylum.

A once-trusted aide of Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden provided a jury on Tuesday the most direct and intimate portrait publicly available of the Saudi militant's terror network designed to drive Americans from the Middle East. The former aide said Bin Laden was enraged when U.S. forces led the Persian Gulf War against Iraq in 1991 and when it later sent troops into Somalia in 1993.