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Jury selection continues into second week

By CNN Producer Phil Hirschkorn

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Twenty more prospective jurors came to U.S. District Court on Monday to be considered for service in the first trial stemming from the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Monday is the fourth day of jury selection in the trial of four men accused of participating in an alleged worldwide conspiracy to kill Americans and destroy U.S. government property. Federal prosecutors allege the conspiracy has been led by wealthy Saudi exile Osama bin Laden.

The most heinous acts listed in the indictment are the twin embassy attacks that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured more than 4,000 people on August 7, 1998.

The four defendants standing trial are alleged Kenya embassy bomber Mohamed al-'Owhali, 23, a Saudi national; alleged Tanzania embassy bomber Khalfan Mohamed, 27, a Tanzanian; alleged Kenya embassy bomber Mohamed Odeh, 35, of Jordan; and the alleged former personal secretary to bin Laden, Wadih el Hage, 40, a naturalized American.

If convicted, al-'Owhali and Mohamed could face the death penalty. Odeh and el Hage could face life in prison without parole.

Bin Laden is among 13 fugitive defendants who are not being tried at this time.

Five more defendants are in U.S. or British custody.

To find an acceptable jury in this highly publicized case, the court last month summoned more than 1,300 individuals and asked each to answer surveys with more than 90 questions last month.

The court is questioning those prospects in one-on-one sessions closed to the public.

"It is a long and somewhat tedious process, but it is of utmost importance... to the criminal justice system," Judge Leonard Sand told potential jurors Monday morning.

"We realize we're plucking you out of the mainstream of your lives," Sand said. "Sitting on a jury is like being drafted in the military. It's one of the few occasions where your government says, 'We want you,'" he said.

The court is seeking to winnow the original jury pool to 80 people before a second round of voir dire settles on the 12-person jury and six alternates.

When court began Monday, 28 of those slots were filled.

The trial is expected to last around nine months.

Deborah Feyerick on embassy bombings trial
December 29, 2000
Embassy bombing defendant found to be feigning mental illness
December 11, 2000
Judge orders separate trial for one embassy bombing defendant
Novemer 13, 2000
Judge rules government may restrict access to evidence in case tied to bin Laden
November 6, 2000

Links to United States Embassies and Consulates Worldwide
Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1999
FBI Websites Document Evidence Against Bin Laden
Dept of State/International Information Programs:
Ussamah Bin Laden
US District Court, Southern District of New York
U.S. State Department - Counterterrorism
Terrorism Research Center
Africa News on the World Wide Web

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