U.S. Embassy 1998 bombing suspect charged

WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- Charges were sworn against the man the U.S. military said it believes was a key player in the 1998 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania, officials said.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani of Zanzibar, Tanzania, now a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was accused of participating in planning and preparing the attack that killed 11 people and injured hundreds, the U.S. Defense Department said Monday in a news release.

Among other things, the document alleged Ghailani was involved in buying and transporting bomb components to Dar es Salaam, where the U.S. Embassy was located, and scouting the facility with the suicide bomb driver.

Ghailani also was charged with providing material support to terrorism, alleging Ghailani worked for al-Qaida as a document forger, a trainer at a training camp, and as a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, the Defense Department said.

The charges will be forwarded to the convening authority, Susan J. Crawford, who will determine which, if any, of the charges will be referred to trial by military commission.

The chief prosecutor recommended charges against Ghailani be referred as capital offenses, which would make Ghailani eligible for the death penalty.