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Jury selection for embassy bombings trial enters final days

From CNN Producer Phil Hirschkorn

CASE FILE Shattered Diplomacy: The U.S. Embassy Bombings Trial An in-depth special report on the trial of four men charged with the embassy bombings Trial reports | Timeline | Key Figures

MESSAGE BOARD Embassy bombing trial

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- Jury selection neared completion on Wednesday in the trial stemming from the August 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The court retained eight more individuals from the jury pool, making a total of 92, who will undergo final consideration to serve on the case.

Since January 3, the court has spent 12 days interviewing people from a pool of about 1,300 New Yorkers who had already filled out 96-question surveys about their background, views and knowledge of the bombings, which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

The court will spend the next two days whittling down the group of 92 to a panel of 12 jurors and six alternates who will decide a case expected to last nine months. Opening statements are scheduled for Monday, February 5.

Four men are standing trial: alleged Kenya bombers Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, a 24-year-old Saudi, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, a 35-year-old Jordanian; alleged Tanzania bomber Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, a 27-year-old Tanzanian; and Wadih el Hage, a 40-year-old naturalized American from Lebanon accused of organizing the Kenyan terrorist cell but not of direct participation in the bombings.

Prosecutors say all four men are linked to Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, 43, who is charged with leading a decade-long worldwide conspiracy to kill Americans and destroy U.S. government property, and with ordering the embassy bombings.

All four defendants face a possible sentence of life in prison for allegedly being a part of the conspiracy. Al-'Owhali and Mohamed, if convicted, could be subject to the death penalty.

Bin Laden, believed to be living in Afghanistan, is one of 13 indicted fugitives in the case. Four other alleged conspirators are in American or British custody.

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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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