A former
aide to Osama bin Laden has been sentenced to life in prison by a court
in the US for conspiring in the deadly 1998 bombings of two US embassies
in Africa.
Judge
Lewis Kaplan said on Friday that Khaled al-Fawwaz was an eager supporter
of bin Laden’s goals even before the attacks in Kenya and Tanzania that
killed 224 people, including a dozen US citizens.
Fawwaz turned toward victims of the bombings and spoke of his remorse minutes before his sentence was announced.
“I can’t find words to describe how terribly sad and sorry I am,” Fawwaz said.
“I don’t support violence…I hope one day people will find other ways to live with their differences other than violence.”
Kaplan
announced Fawwaz’s sentence after three victims spoke, including Ellen
Karas, who was left blind by the attacks, the Associated Press news
agency reported.
“I worship the same God as you,” she told the defendant. “But he is not an angry God. He is not a vengeful God.”
Fawwaz lawyer had asked that he be sentenced to less than life in prison, saying he was less culpable than others.
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