17 December 1998
Source: Fax from the United States Attorney, Southern District of New York.
See related files: http://jya.com/alqfiles.htm
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United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
DECEMBER 16, 1998 MARVIN SMILON, HERBERT HADAD
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(212) 637-2600
FBI
JOSEPH A. VALIQUETTE
(212) 384-2715
JAMES M. MARGOLIN
(212) 384-2720
PRESS RELEASE
MARY JO WHITE, the United States Attorney for the
southern District of New York, and LEWIS D. SCHILIRO, Assistant
Director in Charge of the New York FBI Office, announced that
MUSTAFA MOHAMMED FADHIL, KHALFAN KHAMIS MOHAMED, AHMED KHALFAN
GHAILANI, FAHID MOHAMMED ALLY MSALAM, and SHEIKH AHMED SALIM SWEDAN
were indicted today in Manhattan federal court for the August 7,
1998 bombing of the United States embassy in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, and for conspiring to kill American nationals outside of
the United States.
The United States Department of State also announced
today a reward of up to $5 million for the arrest and/or conviction
anywhere in the world of FADHIL, MOHAMED, GHAILANI, MSALAM, and
SWEDAN.
The superseding 238-count Indictment charges five new
defendants -- FADHIL, MOHAMED, GHAILANI, MSALAM, and SWEDAN --
along with co-defendants USAMA BIN LADEN, MUHAMMAD ATEF, WADIH EL
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HAGE, FAZUL ABDULLAH MOHAMED, MOHAMED SADEEK ODEH, and MOHAMED
RASHED DAOUD AL-'OWHALI, with acting together with members of "al
Qaeda," a worldwide terrorist organization led by BIN LADEN, in a
conspiracy to murder United States nationals.
The objectives of this international terrorist conspiracy
allegedly included: killing members of the American military
stationed in Saudi Arabia and Somalia; killing United States
nationals employed at the United States Embassies in Nairobi,
Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and concealing the activities
of the co-conspirators by, among other things, establishing front
companies, providing false identity and travel documents, engaging
in coded correspondence and providing false information to the
authorities in various countries.
As part of their participation in the conspiracy to
murder United States nationals, and to achieve the particular
objective of bombing the American Embassy in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania, the Indictment charges that the defendants committed
various overt acts including:
(a) MOHAMED and FADHIL rented a certain residence in Dar
es Salaam in June 1998, where MOHAMED, FADHIL, and MSALAM allegedly
met to make final preparations for the bombing;
(b) SWEDAN and GHAILANI purchased the truck used to
deliver the bomb, on which SWEDAN arranged to have mechanical and
welding work done;
(c) MSALAM and GHAILANI purchased oxygen and acetylene
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tanks;
(d) MOHAMED and MSALAM purchased a Suzuki Samurai, which
allegedly was used by the defendants as a utility vehicle and;
(e) GHAILANI fled Africa to Pakistan on August 6, l998,
as did MSALAM, who along with co-defendant MOHAMED SADEEK ODEH,
allegedly flew out of Nairobi on a Pakistani Airways flight from
Nairobi to Karachi, Pakistan.
FADHIL, MOHAMED, GHAILANI, MSALAM and SWEDAN, along with
BIN LADEN, ATEF, ABDULLAH MOHAMED, ODEH, and AL-'OWHALI, are also
charged with bombing the Dar es Salaam embassy and causing the
deaths of at least 11 persons and injuring more than 80 others.
Those ten defendants are also charged with murdering all of the
civilians killed in the Dar es Salaam embassy bombing. The
Indictment names all of the victims of the bombings and each victim
is charged as a separate count of murder in connection with the Dar
es Salaam bombing for a total of 11 counts of murder against
FADHIL, MOHAMED, GHAILANI, MSALAM and SWEDAN, BIN LADEN, ATEF,
ABDULLAH MOHAMMED, ODEH, and AL-'OWHALI.
The Indictment also charges BIN LADEN, ATEf, ABDULLAH
MOHAMMED, ODEH, and AL-'OWHALI with bombing the American Embassy in
Nairobi, Kenya, which resulted in the deaths of more than 200
persons and injuries to more than 4,500 persons, and the murder of
each of the victims of that attack.
Ms. WHITE and Mr. SCHILIRO said the investigation of this
case is being conducted by the Joint Terrorist Task Force composed
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of the FBI, the New York City Police Department, the United States
Department of State, the United States Secret Service, the United
States Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the New York State Police and the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Ms. WHITE and Mr. SCHILIRO praised the Government of
Tanzania, as well as the Governments of Kenya and the Comoros
Islands, for their cooperation in this investigation and commended
all of the investigative efforts and cooperation of the agencies
involved in the case. In particular, they praised and thanked the
Tanzanian Police Force for their tireless efforts since the August
7th bombings in working with American law enforcement officials in
the investigation that has led to this indictment. They also said
that the investigation is continuing.
United States Attorney General Janet Reno stated: "This
indictment shows our continuing commitment to finding those
responsible for these heinous crimes. We will not let up."
Ms. WHITE stated: "This Indictment underscores the
unrelenting determination our government shares with the Tanzanian
and Kenyan Governments to ensure that all of those who perpetrated
these cowardly acts of mass murder are brought to justice. We are
firmly united with our colleagues in Tanzania and Kenya in the
commitment to vindicating the death of each and every victim of
these senseless and random acts of terrorism by charging,
apprehending, and prosecuting each and every participant in these
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terrorist crimes."
Mr. SCHILIRO stated: "Once again, the resolve and
determination of the entire law enforcement team to bring to
justice those responsible for the murder of 224 innocent
Americans, Kenyans, and Tanzanians is demonstrated by the effort
which led to the charges announced today. The FBI, and our law
enforcement partners, are committed to identifying, locating and
prosecuting any and all individuals who are involved in these
criminal acts of terror."
FADHIL, MOHAMED, GHAILANI, MSALAM and SWEDAN, all of whom
are fugitives, face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without
the possibility of parole, or death.
Assistant United States Attorneys PATRICK J. FITZGERALD,
KENNETH M. KARAS and MICHAEL J. GARCIA are in charge of the
prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely
accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.
98-271 ###
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