US Kenya, Tanzania embassy bombing conspirator pleads guilty
The scene of the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- Mr Bary, 54, could receive a maximum sentence of 25 years for the three counts to which he pleaded guilty.
- The judge said he wanted to study the terms of the defendant's deal with US prosecutors that drops terrorism charges carrying a life-imprisonment sentence.
- The tentative plea bargain could also result in Mr Bary's sentence being reduced by up to 14 years, which is the amount of time he spent in a British prison prior to being extradited to the United States.
An Egyptian lawyer pleaded guilty on Friday in a US court to charges that he helped al-Qaeda's leaders claim responsibility for the 1998 US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
Adel Abdul Bary told a federal judge in New York that he had worked in London as a media agent for al-Qaeda prior to and immediately following the attacks that killed 200 Kenyans, 12 Americans and 10 Tanzanians.
"I arranged to transmit the messages for the media personnel to my co-conspirators, including but not limited to Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden," he said.
“I did that knowingly and with the intention of doing it to transmit the threat to attack the American interests everywhere,” Mr Bary added. He said he agreed with al-Qaeda's edict to “kill American citizens anywhere in the world, either civilian or military.”
Mr Bary, 54, could receive a maximum sentence of 25 years for the three counts to which he pleaded guilty.
But Judge Lewis Kaplan did not immediately accept Mr Bary's plea.
The judge said he wanted to study the terms of the defendant's deal with US prosecutors that drops terrorism charges carrying a life-imprisonment sentence.
The tentative plea bargain could also result in Mr Bary's sentence being reduced by up to 14 years, which is the amount of time he spent in a British prison prior to being extradited to the United States.
Courtroom observers said Mr Bary appeared to be weeping at times during Friday's proceedings. He acknowledged in court that he is taking medication for diagnosed depression.
Mr Bary is the father of Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, identified by British intelligence as a suspect in the recent beheading by Islamist militants of US journalist James Foley.
