Wednesday marked the first opportunity for the United States to take on the organization led by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden as the trial of four men charged in the 1998 US embassy bombings opened in New York.
The US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were attacked in simultaneous explosions on August 7, 1998, killing 224 people including 12 Americans.
After more than two years of investigations, interviewing and legal wranglings, the trial of the four men marks the best chance for the US to bring bin Laden and his terrorist Al-Qaeda organization to justice.
Al-Qaeda or "The Base," was created in 1989 by bin Laden to foster his ongoing war against US interests worldwide. The Islamist network is considered a leader in terrorist activity around the world.
The success of the US case against the four mid-level Al-Qaeda operatives depends largely on the evidence, still kept closely under wraps, presented by the prosecution. Testimony from US agents could pose a threat to their own security, and the security of their sources.
Jury selection began here Wednesday in a US District Court in a trial expected to last between nine months and a year.
US District Court Judge Leonard Sand opened the session with the four men -- a naturalized American of Lebanese origin, a Jordanian, a Saudi and a Tanzanian -- and their lawyers present.
Some family members of the victims of the deadly bombings were also in attendance.
Sand closed the courtroom to both the news media and the public to ensure the safety of prospective jurors and to enable them to be as candid as possible during the jury selection process.
Jury selection in a trial as high-profile as this could take several weeks, with lawyers for both the defendants and the prosecution vetting citizens, with the option of recusing them based on their answers to pre-trial questioning.
Around 1,500 people were pre-selected to make up the 12-person jury.
Speaking from the courthouse steps, Stuart Newberger, an attorney for 11 of the 12 families of US victims, said that "all the families, not only American, have anxiously been waiting for the US government to achieve something in this case."
As the US victims were embassy employees, Newberger noted, they were representing the United States around the world.
"It's clearly an attack against the United States," he added.
Edith Bartley, whose father, Julian Bartley Senior and brother, Julian Bartley Junior, were both killed in the Nairobi blast, accused the US State Department of negligence for having ignored warnings for increasing security in face of possible attacks.
"They were playing Russian roulette with American lives and they are continuing to do so," she said. "Secretary of State Madeleine Albright chose to ignore those warnings, and it's unacceptable."
Twenty-two men have been charged in the near-simultaneous bombings of the two embassies. One has pleaded guilty, three are jailed in Britain awaiting extradition to the United States, and the rest, including bin Laden, remain at large.
The four men on trial in New York have pleaded innocent to murder charges and two of them face the death penalty if convicted.
Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, a Tanzanian, could be sentenced to death if he is found guilty of participation in the bombing of the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam.
Mohamed Rashid Daoud al Owhali, 23, a Saudi, could also be executed for throwing a grenade at embassy guards in the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi.
Wadih el Hage, 40, a Lebanon-born US citizen, is accused of once serving as bin Laden's personal secretary. He faces life in prison if convicted.
Also charged is Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, 35, of Jordan, accused of helping plan the bombing in Kenya. He too faces life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors will rely in part on the testimony of Ali Mohamed, a 48-year-old former US Army sergeant who pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy and murder in the bombings and agreed to testify against the others.
US officials have offered a five-million-dollar reward for bin Laden's capture. He is believed to be currently living in exile in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban militia -- NEW YORK (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
