Summary:
Issued from U.S. District Court in Manhattan on November 4, 1998, a 238-count indictment accuses Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden and his reported military chief, Muhammed Atef, of plotting and carrying out the attacks in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on August 7, 1998. The blasts killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and injured thousands more. The indictment also accused bin Laden's terrorist group, "al Queda," or "The Base," with attacks on U.S. forces stationed in Saudi Arabia and Somalia in 1992 and 1993. At the time the formal charge was issued, both men were fugitives, and the State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to their capture.
Timeline:
98.98.20 - US forces launch 62 cruise missiles at four alleged training camps and two base camps suspected of belonging to Osama bin Laden.
98.11.04 - The United States formally charges bin Laden and a military aide with murder, blaming them for the deadly attacks on American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
98.11.19 - A high-ranking official from the CIA reports that terrorism suspect bin Laden tries to develop chemical weapons to use against US troops in the Persian Gulf.
98.12.22 - Time conducts interview (published in Jan. 11 issue) with bin Laden at his secret encampment in Afghanistan. He was specifically asked if he was responsible for the embassy attacks. Here is his reply. "If the instigation for jihad (holy war)against the Jews and the Americans...is considered a crime, then let history be a witness that I am a criminal...Our job is to instigate, and by the grace of God, we did that, and certain people responded to this instigation."
98.12.24 - A Pakistani news agency reports that in his first public denial of involvement in the embassy bombings, bin Laden states that he is innocent, but not sorry that the attacks happened.
Note: Between August 1998 and January 1999, U.S. outposts overseas received more than 650 threats (approximately 1/3 are credible) from the bin Laden network, which is believed to be operating in more than 25 countries.
98.12.27 - Bin Laden accuses the governor of the Saudi capita of Riyadh, Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz, of plotting his assassination.
98.12.29 - Saudi Arabia denies existence of assassination plot on bin Laden. 99.02.13 - Taliban reports that bin Laden is missing from his base in Afghanistan.
99.06.07 - Osama bin Laden is added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list.
99.06.16 - bin Laden is feared to be planning another terrorist attack. Officials expressed specific concern about US embassies in Mozambique, Senegal and Ghana -- all believed to have been under recent surveillance by possible terrorists. Individuals who are possible associated with al Queda are suspected on videotaping the outside of the embassy in Mozambique.
99.07.04 - It is confirmed that bin Laden's camp has moved to a new site, which was once a farm during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and is located in the village of Farmihadda.
xs 99.07.06 - Accusing it of harboring alleged terrorist bin Laden, Clinton imposes economic sanctions on the Taliban movement, which rules most of Afghanistan.
99.07.10 - Afghanistan's Taliban movement refuses to extradite bin Laden to the Unites State to face aforementioned charges.
99.07.15 - Taliban spokesman, Maulvi Wakil Muttawakil told an Arabic newspaper that bin Laden is under strict surveillance by Taliban intelligence "to be sure that he is not carrying out any illegal acts." In addition, the movement stated that it does not oppose the trial of bin Laden being held in a neutral country, but only if the exiled leader agrees to it.
Related Concepts
al Queda - bin Laden's terrorist network
Afghanistan - home to bin Laden's encampment
Taliban - movement ruling most of Afghanistan
sanction - a block imposed by a country onto another concerning trade
between the two nations.
Relevant Sources
www.cnn.com
www.nytimes.com
abcnews.go.com