A US federal judge sentenced Khaled al-Fawwaz, an aide to al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, on Friday to life in prison for his involvement in the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Al-Fawwaz, who is from Saudi Arabia, was tried in a US civilian court in New York for taking part in al-Qaeda-led bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, killing 224 people including 12 US citizens and wounding thousands of mostly African victims.
Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced him Friday to life in prison following a six-week jury trial this year, in which he was convicted on all 29 charges including four counts of conspiracy to kill a US citizen, the US Justice Department said.
Before the sentencing, al-Fawwaz asked permission to address the victims of the bombing who were present in the courtroom, the New York Daily News reported.
“I can’t find words to describe how terribly sad and sorry I am,” al-Fawwaz told the victims.
“I do not support violence. I never intended for any of my activities to contribute to it. I hope that one day people will find a way to deal with their differences other than violence.”
US Attorney Preet Bharara welcomed the decision, calling al-Fawwaz one of bin Laden’s “original and most trusted lieutenants,” according to a statement.
“Al-Fawwaz conspired with a murderous regime, and the result was a horrific toll of terror and death,” Bharara said.
“The price he will pay, appropriately severe as it is, cannot possibly compensate his victims and their families.”
According to the indictment, al-Fawwaz was an important aide to bin Laden. In 1994 he put al-Fawwaz in charge of the terrorist organization’s London office, from where he disseminated the extremist leader’s messages.
Al-Fawwaz was found guilty of providing communication equipment to al-Qaeda, including a satellite phone that was used by bin Laden to talk to other members of the organization.
The trial was the third high-profile terrorism case to be held in US civilian court since the September 11, 2001, attacks.
In 2014, former al-Qaeda spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghaith, bin Laden’s son-in-law, was convicted by a jury in New York of conspiring to kill US citizens and providing support to the terrorist network. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Islamist cleric Mustafa Kamel Mustafa was sentenced on January 9 to life in prison on 11 terrorism charges, including attempting to set up a terrorist training camp in the US and conspiring in a 1998 kidnapping of tourists in Yemen.
Al-Fawwaz stood trial alone after Egyptian co-defendant Adel Abdel-Bary pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in September, and Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai, alias Abu Anas al-Libi, died of liver cancer in early January.
Al-Fawwaz and Abdel-Bary were extradited in 2012 to the US from Britain. Al-Libi, a Libyan, was captured by US troops in a 2013 raid in Tripoli.
In May 2001, just months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, a New York federal court found four other men guilty in the 1998 US embassy bombings and sentenced them to life in prison. The verdict marked the first-ever conviction in a US court of individuals who killed US citizens abroad in acts of terrorism.
