dictionary

Defense says accused are innocent of embassy bombings

Two of the defendants, Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, left, and Kahlfan Khamis Mohamed could receive the death penalty, if convicted

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The trial of four men, accused in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, began here Monday with the judge telling jurors that the trial would require "patience, attentiveness and discipline."

Defense attorneys said the accused were not guilty.

"The concept of blowing up innocent people is not permissible," said Anthony Ricco, an attorney for one of the men.

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

LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Opening statements before a jury of 12 people, and six alternates, with U.S. District Judge Leonard B. Sand presiding, got under way just after 10 a.m. ET.

In his welcoming remarks, Sand told the jurors that "great pains were taken in your selection" and urged them to ignore media reports on the case. "Please switch the channel or turn the page," he said.

In his opening statement for the government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Butler outlined the prosecution's case, which includes 308 counts of conspiracy, murder and other charges.

"The story that is about to unfold before you is long, complicated and chilling," Butler said.

Butler spent part of his time setting the scene at the downtown Nairobi, Kenya embassy the day of the bombing -- August 7, 1998.

"It's business as usual at the American embassy, which means busy," Butler told the court. "Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed."

Two men face the death penalty if convicted. Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, 24, a Saudi, is accused of participating in the Nairobi, Kenya bombing that killed 213 people. Kahlfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, a Tanzanian, is accused of participating in the bombing at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in which 11 people died.

Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, 35, a Jordanian accused of participating in the Kenya bombing and Wadih el Hage, 40, a naturalized American from Lebanon, accused of organizing the Kenyan terrorist cell, but not of direct participation in the bombings both face life in prison if convicted.

The bombings injured more than 4,000 people.

Butler described how the bomb truck entered the Nairobi embassy's rear parking lot, shattering the embassy and adjacent buildings when it exploded.

Butler said al-'Owhali was actually in the bomb truck and got out to throw handmade grenades to distract the embassy guards. "At the last minute, Mohamed al-'Owhali ran away from that bomb truck, leaving those 213 men, women and children slaughtered behind him," Butler said.

Mohamed, Butler said, "was in a bomb truck, too," referring to truck used in the bombing in Dar es Salaam. Butler said Mohamed rented the house where the Tanzania bomb was built and stayed behind to clean it after the bombing.

Prosecutors allege all four defendants 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. He is accused of ordering the embassy bombings.

"Osama bin Laden formed this terrorist group known as al Qaeda, which plotted for years to kill Americans," Butler said.

Butler called el Hage "a trusted associate of bin Laden, who carried out his order to militarize his Kenyan terrorist cell."

He accused Odeh of supporting that cell by establishing a fishing business in the Kenyan coastal city of Mombassa.

He said al'Owhali not only confessed to his role in the Kenya bombing but he "bragged and boasted."

"All four defendants entered into an illegal agreement with Osama bin Laden and others to kill Americans anywhere in the world they could be found," Butler said. "They each helped the best way they could. And in the end, 224 men, women and children from Kenya, Tanzania, and Americans lost their lives."

Before the lunch break, two defense attorneys made their opening statements.

First came Sam Schmidt, representing el Hage.

Schmidt conceded that el Hage was an bin Laden associate in the early 1990s in Sudan, but said he had nothing to do with any conspiracy to kill Americans.

"You will see no evidence that he [el Hage] related to Osama bin Laden in Sudan as anything other than a businessman," Schmidt said. "He was never anywhere near an inner circle of confidantes of Osama bin Laden."

Second up was Ricco, for Odeh.

Ricco conceded that Odeh has been a member of al Qaeda -- bin Laden's organization -- because of devout religious beliefs.

"He joined al Qaeda and agreed to follow bin Laden only in acts deemed to be Islamically correct," Odeh said.

Ricco described Odeh as living a simple life in a thatched hut with his wife and child in a small Kenyan village with less than 5,000 inhabitants and no running water.

"Mohamed Odeh has no reason to kill Kenyans. He's married to a Kenyan. His children are Kenyan. His neighbors are Kenyan," Ricco said.

Attorney Fed Cohn, representing al-Owhali, and Jeremy Schneider, for Mohamed, will present their opening statements this afternoon.

The prosecution's case includes crime scene photographs, videotapes and forensic evidence, such as chemical bomb residue. More than 100 witnesses from six countries are expected to testify, including FBI agents, medical examiners and people who saw the bombs explode.

The trial could last until the end of the year.

Members of five U.S families who lost relatives in the Kenya bombing are listening to opening statements in the second row of the court gallery, directly behind the defendants.

Opening statements set for Monday in U.S. embassy bombings trial
February 2, 2001
Embassy bombing defendants' confessions admissible, says U.S. Judge
January 29, 2001
Embassy bombing defendants ask to suppress evidence
January 27, 2001
Two more defendants seek suppression of evidence in bombing trial
January 26, 2001
Judge considers whether to toss out embassy bombing defendant's confession
January 24, 2001
Embassy bombing defendant wants confession suppressed
January 23, 2000
Embassy bombing defendant says he warned of Yemen attack
January 18, 2001
Jury selection inches forward in embassy bombings case
January 16, 2001

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

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.