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Man who rented Kenya bomb house testifies

The bomb that exploded at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya was built in this house outside Nairobi.

In this story: Alleged connection to bin Laden Prosecution's double life theory RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The man who rented the house where the bomb that blew up the U.S. Embassy in Kenya was constructed testified Wednesday he was not aware of how the tenants planned to use the building.

Sikander Juma was called as a defense witness in the trial of four men accused of carrying out a terrorist conspiracy that included coordinated truck bomb attacks on U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 7, 1998.

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   GALLERY Images from the U.S. embassy bombing in Tanzania   TRIAL REPORT Phil Hirschkorn: Trial reveals a conspiracy of calls, but only tidbits about bin Laden

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Juma, a Kenyan, does not face any criminal charges.

He told the U.S. District Court jury that he was tricked into leasing the house at 43 Runda Estates, outside Nairobi, starting May 1, 1998. He testified he was asked to find a family-sized residence by Fazul Abudullah Mohammed, also known as Harun, who told him his wife and children were moving from Comoros to live there.

The government considers Harun, now a fugitive, to have been a leader in the Kenya bombing. Traces of the explosives TNT and PETN were found all over the house and garage, FBI witnesses have testified.

Alleged connection to bin Laden

Juma was called by defendant Wadih el Hage, who had hired Harun to work with him at Help Africa People, a humanitarian group that combated the spread of malaria in Kenya.

"You didn't know there was any wrong purpose for Harun renting this house," asked el Hage's attorney, Joshua Dratel.

"No sir," Juma said. "He told me he is not a Kenyan citizen and if they know he is not Kenyan, they can charge him more."

After the bombing occurred, Juma said he feared prosecution and spoke to police. Juma said he's never undergone military training and has never heard of al Qaeda, the Islamic militant organization led by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden.

"I don't know what that is," Juma told the jury.

But Juma's sister was married to bin Laden's former military commander, who drowned in a May 1996 ferry boat accident. Juma also knew Harun as someone he picked up money from in Nairobi -- no questions asked -- at his brother-in-law's direction.

Bin Laden -- wanted in the United States for allegedly ordering the bombings -- and Harun are among 13 fugitives in the case.

Prosecution's double life theory

An earlier witness, Mohamed Ali M.S. Odeh had testified since Monday about his shared business interests with el Hage in Kenya, including Black Giant, a mining company they founded for semi-precious and precious stones.

larger   The aftermath of the bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi

Odeh, an el Hage neighbor who regularly visited el Hage's home and used his phone, said he had never heard of bin Laden until the embassy bombing.

"I did not know him before this occasion," Odeh said.

On cross-examination, Odeh told Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald that while he knew Harun, he did not know of Mustafa Fadhil or Mohamed Atef -- two alleged terrorist conspirators -- whose wiretap and computer file evidence has shown that they maintained communication with el Hage.

According to prosecutors, el Hage passed along bin Laden's orders to militarize al Qaeda's East Africa cell to both Atef, bin Laden's military commander, and Fadhil, an alleged Tanzania embassy bomber.

Odeh's ignorance played into the prosecution's theory, that el Hage lived a sort of double life in Kenya -- living with his family and engaging in legitimate business, such as the gem trade, while secretly facilitating violent operatives in bin Laden's group.

Odeh, the witness, coincidentally has a name very similar to Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, an alleged Kenya embassy bomber who is one of the four defendants in the New York trial. Both men are Jordanian, but are not related.

The other two defendants are alleged Kenya embassy bomber Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, a Saudi, and alleged Tanzania bomber Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, from Tanzania.

Only el Hage, a naturalized American from Lebanon, and codefendant Odeh are expected to call any witnesses in their defense. The defense phase of the trial is expected to be completed at the end of next week.

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U.S. State Department
 •  International Information Programs:
 •  Counterterrorism
 •  Links to United States Embassies and Consulates Worldwide
Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1999
FBI Websites Document Evidence Against Bin Laden
Ussamah Bin Laden
US District Court, Southern District of New York
Terrorism Research Center

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