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Africa: Subsaharan
Tanzanian court acquits US embassy bombing suspect
2004-12-22
A High Court judge on Wednesday found a Tanzanian businessman innocent of conspiracy to commit murder in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in the East African nation.
Just a simple businessman, trying to make a living in a down market...
Judge Emilian Mushi ordered the immediate release of Rashid Saleh Hemed, 34, who was charged in connection with the terror attack that killed 12 people and was blamed on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network. A nearly simultaneous blast at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya, killed 219 people, including 12 Americans. "You cannot convict someone with doubtful evidence," Mushi told the court, after declaring that prosecutors failed to prove beyond doubt that Hemed was involved in the plot to bomb the embassy. Prosecutors said that they would not appeal the ruling.

"I am not surprised with the judgment because I knew I was not guilty right from the beginning," Hemed told The Associated Press while walking out of the court. Hemed, a car parts dealer, was the first person charged in connection with the Aug. 7, 1998 attacks in Tanzania and Kenya. His trial began in 2000. In 2001, four men were convicted in New York of conspiracy to carry out the bombings and sentenced to life in prison. In Kenya, three men are on trial for allegedly taking part in a series of al-Qaida attacks, including the U.S. Embassy bombing. Hemed was initially charged with 11 counts of murder in September 1998, but the charges were later reduced to conspiracy to commit murder. One person died from injuries after the charges were brought.
Posted by:Seafarious

#3  
But FBI agents conceded that the traces of chemicals found in Hemed's clothing were not in sufficient quantities to prove that he was involved in bomb-making, and prosecutors did not prove Hemed was aware of the detonator's presence, Mushi said.

Geez, if something can't be proven, then why bother? Next time, either covertly bump the guy off, or plant a mole.
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-12-22 7:42:24 PM  

#2  Another fine example of the "law enforcement" approach to terrorism at work.
Posted by: Matt   2004-12-22 1:54:38 PM  

#1  fine. He needs to have an "accident"
Posted by: Frank G   2004-12-22 1:51:24 PM  

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