2 Arrests In Embassy Bombings
Police have arrested two men in London in connection with the fatal bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa last summer, authorities said.
Ibrahim Hussein Abdel Hadi Eidarous, 42, and Adel Mohanned Abdul Almagid Bary, 39, were due in court Monday to face charges they conspired with Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden and his alleged terrorist network to kill Americans, Scotland Yard said.
The men, who must appear Monday in Bow Street Magistrates Court, were arrested Sunday on an extradition warrant following a request from the United States.
Police refused to release further information about the suspects.
The nearly simultaneous blasts in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998 killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured more than 5,400.
Bin Laden is suspected of masterminding and financing the bombings. He has been placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List, and a $5 million reward has been offered for information leading to his arrest.
But bin Laden, along with six other suspects, remains a fugitive. He is believed to be in Afghanistan.
Five other defendants are being held in New York on conspiracy charges stemming from the bombings.
Two of those suspects, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh and Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali, are charged with more than 200 counts of murder in the bombings.
Another suspect, Khaled Al Fawwaz, is fighting extradition to the United States. Fawwaz was arrested in Britain on Sept. 28 and is accused of conspiring with bin Laden and others to kill Americans throughout the world, especially soldiers and diplomats.
His extradition hearing resumes in September.
Bin Laden has denied any role in the attacks against Americans. However, in an interview with an Arabic television last month, bin Laden expressed admiration for the people who bombed American forces in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and 1996 and said that all Americans were legitimate targets.
Last week, Washington warned that bin Laden may be preparing another attack as the anniversary of the embassy bombings approaches. It briefly closed six of its African embassies in late June.
The U.S. has also tried to put pressure on bin Laden by ordering financial sanctions against the Afghanistan's Taliban religious militia, which it has accused of harboring bin Laden.
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