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Kenyan and Tanzanian Embassy Bombers Trial: 2001

The Second Blast



Next, the prosecutors introduced survivors of the Dar es Salaam blast. Charge d'affaires Lange told how the explosion rocked his office during his meeting. Embassy translator Justine Mdobilu, whose braided hair filled with bits of flying glass, said, "I thought I was dreaming. When I looked around, people were bleeding." Information officer Elizabeth Slater, who was pulled from the rubble of a collapsed wall, said, "Coming down the stairwell, there were all kinds of body parts."



Witnesses described the Tanzania bomb truck, a Nissan Atlas sold by a Tanzanian driver to Ahmed Ghailani and Sheik Ahmed Salim Swedan, two of the indicted fugitives. Swedan had earlier been identified as the buyer of the Toyota Dyna that carried the Kenya bomb. A Tanzanian welder said Swedan paid him to alter it to hold batteries in the rear.

Evidence against Mohamed showed he had been seen meeting with the buyers of the Nissan Atlas, that his passport had been found in the home of one buyer, and that he rented the house where the Tanzania bomb was built. FBI agent Abigail Perkins testified that Mohamed told her he owned the bombers' Suzuki utility car and was responsible for helping grind the TNT that was loaded into the truck. He participated, he told her, "to help his Muslim brothers."

Additional topics

Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationNotable Trials and Court Cases - 1995 to PresentKenyan and Tanzanian Embassy Bombers Trial: 2001 - Linked To Bin Laden, "the Snake Is America", Bombing A "blunder", The Second Blast