U.S. Embassy Bomber Gets Life in Prison

By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A federal jury on Tuesday spared the life of a Tanzanian man convicted of the deadly 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania when the panel could not agree on whether the man should be executed.

The Manhattan federal jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, should be executed or given a life term. The jury reached this conclusion on its third day of deliberations.

``We understand that the consequence of this is that Khalfan Khais Mohamed will be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release,'' the jury said in its verdict form.

U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand set a September 19 sentencing date, at which time he must give Mohamed a life term.

The same Manhattan jury had convicted Mohamed and three others on May 29 of conspiring with exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Ladento kill Americans in a broad plot that included the twin bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The two explosions killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured more than 4,000.

In addition to conspiracy, Mohamed was found guilty of having a direct role in the Tanzanian blast, a finding that made him eligible for the death penalty.

During the guilt phase of the trial, an FBIagent testified Mohamed admitted renting the house in which the Tanzanian bomb was built, helping grind the TNT explosive, loading the bomb on to the truck and riding part of the way to the embassy in Dar es Salaam.

STABBING OF PRISON GUARD

Prosecutors have also alleged that Mohamed had participated in a brutal stabbing of a Manhattan prison guard last year and that this made him too dangerous to be kept alive. Although Mohamed was not charged in the assault that left the guard brain damaged, prosecutors argued the jury should consider the assault in deciding whether he should be executed instead of a life sentence for the embassy bombing. Defense lawyers said this was a key issue before the jury.

The jury said it could not reach a unanimous agreement on whether Mohamed poses ``a continuing and serious threat'' to others with whom he would come into contact. Nine of the jurors also cited a March psychiatric report that found the danger he would pose to others while in prison is ``low.''

``We're happy. We're relieved,'' said David Ruhnke, one of Mohamed's lawyers. He said they were particularly pleased that the jury could not reach a unanimous decision on whether Mohamed posed a continuing threat.

Ruhnke said that Mohamed liked the guard and had not reason to attack him.

``He (Mohamed) was very very grateful he's been given a chance to live his life and prove to people he was not what he was portrayed as,'' said David Stern, another defense lawyer.

REACTION ON STREETS OF DAR ES SALAAM

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzanians reacted with disappointment to the verdict, saying it was not harsh enough.

``Justice has not been done,'' said Edgar Muyovela, a bar manager. ``The life sentence has added salt to the wounds of people who lost their loved ones.''

``He should be brought to Tanzania to serve his jail term,'' added student Lincoln Chitanda. ``A U.S. jail is like a five-star hotel in a Third World country. He will not get the punishment he deserves in a U.S. jail.''

Mohamed had shared a cell with co-defendant Mamdouh Mahmud Salim, a former senior deputy to bin Laden, who is charged in the attack on the prison guard. Salim allegedly stabbed the officer so hard through the eye with a makeshift knife fashioned from a comb that it pierced his brain. Salim is scheduled to be tried in September.

While none of the jurors found that he was remorseful for the Tanzanian bombing, a majority cited certain mitigating factors that weighed against execution. These included that Mohamed was not a leader of the conspiracy and that while he was guilty of the murders, his participation was relatively minor. Among other factors they found were that other defendants of equal or greater culpability would not be sentenced to death.

Seven of the jurors also said that killing him would make him a martyr in the eyes of bin Laden followers. The same jury previously spared the life of another defendant, convicted in the Nairobi bombing, listing this as one of their reasons.

Bin Laden, who was indicted as the alleged mastermind of the twin blasts, remains a fugitive and is believed living in Afghanistan.

Copyright © 2001. Reuters. All rights reserved.

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