Lawyer: Man accused of being bin Laden’s London representative likely extradited to NYC soon

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK — More than a decade of delays in bringing the man accused of being Osama bin Laden’s representative in Britain to the United States for trial appears to be nearing an end, according to a lawyer seeking to represent him against charges in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

David Kirby, a Burlington, Vt., lawyer, wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that Khalid al-Fawwaz expects to be brought to the U.S. for trial in the next few months. The letter was entered into the record Friday in federal court in Manhattan.

Al-Fawwaz was arrested a month after the August 1998 bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. He was charged in an indictment with conspiracy to kill Americans, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to destroy U.S. buildings and property and conspiracy to attack national defense utilities. The charges carry a potential life sentence. The indictment still lists bin Laden as the lead defendant despite his death during a U.S. military raid in Pakistan earlier this week.

According to the indictment, bin Laden and al-Fawwaz in 1994 set up a media information office in London that was designed to publicize the statements of bin Laden and to provide a cover for activity in support of al-Qaida’s military activities. Those military activities included the recruitment of trainees, the disbursement of funds and the procurement of necessary equipment, including satellite telephones, it said.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ny_judge_declines_to_appoint_lawyer_for_terror_defendant_held_in_england_prior_to_extradition/2011/05/06/AFmzNKAG_story.html