London Telegraph
The criminal case against Osama bin Laden, which has rumbled through the NY courts for the past 13 years in his absence, is set to be closed following his assassination.
The first indictment against bin Laden was filed in secret at a federal-district court in Manhattan on June 10, 1998 Photo: EPA
Prosecutors representing the US government are expected to file papers this week asking a judge to dismiss the case against bin Laden, the late leader of al-Qaeda, due to the death of the main defendant.
The first indictment against bin Laden was filed in secret at a federal-district court in Manhattan on June 10, 1998, before most of his most renowned acts of terrorism.
It was eight pages long, and stated that the then-41-year-old should be convicted of conspiring to attack United States defence installations throughout the 1990s.
Over the following years, the case grew with every outrage al-Qaeda perpetrated, with dozens of bin Laden's subordinates added to the list said by prosecutors to have been responsible.
Just two months after the first indictment, the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were bombed by al-Qaeda agents, killing more than 200 and wounding hundreds more.
Bin Laden and his then-unknown allies "unlawfully, wilfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated and agreed together" to "injure and destroy" US facilities, it said.
In October 2000, the USS Cole, a Navy destroyer, was attacked by two suicide bombers while in the port of Amen, Yemen. Seventeen US sailors were killed.
Less than a year later, the September 11 attacks killed almost 3,000 people.
The indictment "shows that in spite of whatever everyone says, there were people in the government who knew about Bin Laden prior to 9/11 and were prepared to do something about it," Daniel Coleman, the first FBI agent put on the investigation into Bin Laden, told The New York Times.
A recent version was used in the case against Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantánamo Bay detainee to be tried in US civilian courts. Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's deputy, is still listed as charged.
In October 2000, the USS Cole, a Navy destroyer, was attacked by two suicide bombers while in the port of Amen, Yemen. Seventeen US sailors were killed.
Less than a year later, the September 11 attacks killed almost 3,000 people.
The indictment "shows that in spite of whatever everyone says, there were people in the government who knew about Bin Laden prior to 9/11 and were prepared to do something about it," Daniel Coleman, the first FBI agent put on the investigation into Bin Laden, told The New York Times.
A recent version was used in the case against Ahmed Ghailani, the first Guantánamo Bay detainee to be tried in US civilian courts. Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's deputy, is still listed as charged.
No comments:
Post a Comment