US Court Convicts Saudi Man İn US Embassy Bombings

A U.S. federal court on Thursday found a Saudi Arabian man guilty of an al-Qaeda conspiracy in the deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa.



An anonymous New York grand jury in Manhattan convicted Khaled al-Fawwaz of four charges relating to the simultaneous 1998 bombings in Tanzania and Kenya that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.



The verdict came after three days of deliberations.



Prosecutors said Fawwaz was "one of Osama bin Laden's original and most trusted lieutenants" and "bin Laden's bridge to the West in the pre-Internet era."



The 52-year-old defendant faces up to a lifetime prison term.



Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Fawwaz "played a critical role for al-Qaeda in its murderous conspiracy against America."



"We hope this verdict gives some comfort to al-Qaeda's victims around the world," he said.



Fawwaz was arrested in London in 1998 and extradited to the U.S. in 2012.



www.aa.com.tr/en - New York