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Mohamed al-'Owhali was only 21 at the time of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.

From Phil Hirschkorn
CNN New York Bureau

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Jurors deciding whether to order the execution of Mohamed al-'Owhali, convicted in the bombing of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, may be considering al-'Owhali's religious motivation for participating in terrorism.

In the two notes sent to the court since it received the case late Tuesday, the jury has asked for two books, "Teach Yourself Islam" and the Koran.

Excerpts of the first book were introduced as evidence by al-'Owhali's attorneys, but jurors wanted the full volume, a 218-page paperback available in commercial bookstores. It is part of a series on world religions from NTC publishing. The jury received copies of the book.

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  DOCUMENTS Read al-'Owhali penalty phase closing arguments (June 5) (FindLaw) (PDF) Read al-'Owhali death penalty phase testimony (May 30-31) (FindLaw) (PDF) Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing.  CNN ACCESS Bomb victim's father: 'We got 'em, Kenny Ray'    ALSO Relatives of victims, attorney for defendant react to verdict • Other terrorism cases keep legal spotlight on bin Laden   GALLERY Images from the U.S. embassy bombing in Tanzania

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U.S. District Court Judge Leonard Sand declined to provide the jury the Koran because it had not been introduced as evidence during either the four-month trial or the four-day penalty phase.

The same jurors who convicted al-'Owhali of carrying out the August 7, 1998, truck bombing of the embassy and of murdering the 213 people who died in the explosion are deciding his sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

When the al-'Owhali sentence is resolved, the jury will hear testimony and evidence about bomber Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, convicted in the coordinated and nearly simultaneous truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Mohamed was convicted of murdering the 11 people who died there.

Al-'Owhali, Mohamed and two other defendants -- Mohamed Odeh and Wadih el Hage -- all were convicted of participating in a worldwide conspiracy to kill Americans the United States says is led by Osama bin Laden, the wealthy Saudi exile who reportedly lives in Afghanistan and founded the Islamic militant network known as "al Qaeda."

Odeh and el Hage face a maximum of life in prison when their sentence is pronounced.

Religion is one factor al-'Owhali defense attorneys asked the jury to consider, specifically whether al-'Owhali acted to save fellow Muslims from injury and death, believed Islam mandated his conduct, or was indoctrinated in Muslim teachings that promoted martyrdom and "jihad," or holy war.

The defense argued that al-'Owhali was motivated in part by the U.S. treatment of Iraq -- including airstrikes and sanctions since the end of the Gulf War -- that according to witnesses have resulted in the death of more than a million Iraqis, half of them children.

Al-'Owhali, from Saudi Arabia, told the FBI agent who interviewed him after his arrest that he was prepared to die as a martyr to "wipe away the tears of the mothers whose children have been murdered from American policy around the world."

The defense also told the jury that al-'Owhali, only 21 when he committed his crime, began to be indoctrinated in conservative Islamic teachings at the age of 14, learning that Muslim men who died fighting went to paradise.

Prosecutors asked the jury to give the most weight to the emotional, physical and economic impact the bombing had on the relatives of those killed and the maimed survivors who were among the 4,000 people wounded by the blast.

More than two-dozen witnesses, representatives of the dead and injured, testified during the penalty phase.

"After their testimony the suffering and the pain caused by this defendant can now be associated with real family, with real lives lost, lives that were stolen by this defendant," prosecutor Michael Garcia said in his closing argument.

The jury deliberations are scheduled to resume Thursday morning.