Saudi convicted in ’98 bombings

Al-Qaida attacks on 2 U.S. embassies in Africa killed 224.

against Americans were heard and noticed worldwide in 1998.

“From his onetime place at the top of al-Qaida’s membership list, Fawwaz now joins the long membership list of convicted, jailed terrorists,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. With al-Fawwaz’s conviction, 10 defendants tied to the embassy bombings have been convicted or pleaded guilty, Bharara said.

Al-Fawwaz’ lawyers said he was a peaceful dissident who had no part in al-Qaida’s violent plans. They saw the case as skewed by the passage of time and the drumbeat of news and fear about terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Trying a pre-9 /11 terror case in a post-9 /11 world, blocks from the World Trade Center, ensured that Mr. al-Fawwaz could never receive a truly fair trial,” defense lawyer Bobbi Sternheim said after the verdict.

As one of bin Laden’s “original and most trusted lieutenants,” al-Fawwaz led an al-Qaida Afghanistan training camp in the early 1990s, participated in a terrorist cell in Kenya and set up a media information office in London where he became bin Laden’s link to Western journalists, Bharara said.

Al-Fawwaz disseminated bin Laden’s 1998 order to followers to kill Americans, a directive that was followed by the August 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, Bharara said. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.

“Murderous words lead to murderous action,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Lewin told jurors during the trial.

An al-Qaida roster of original members lists bin Laden first and al-Fawwaz ninth.