US prosecutors will accuse four men later today of conspiring with Osama bin Laden in the 1998 fatal bombings of two US embassies in Africa that killed more than 200 people.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin this afternoon Irish time in a Manhattan federal court in the trial of the four, who are charged with conspiring with bin Laden to kill US troops and civilians anywhere in the world.
The trial is based on a lengthy indictment against bin Laden and 21 associates accusing them of schemes that began in 1989 and included the August 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
Prosecutors allege bin Laden masterminded the blasts that killed more than 200, including 12 Americans, and injured thousands.
The indictment also charges two of the defendants with conspiring to kill members of the US military stationed in Saudi Arabia and Somalia.
Bin Laden, who is in Afghanistan, is among 13 defendants who are fugitives and the US government is offering rewards of $5 million for information leading to their arrests. Three other defendants are fighting extradition from Britain.
Those for trial are Mr Wadih El-Hage (40), a naturalised US citizen born in Lebanon; Mr Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, (24) a Saudi; Tanzanian Mr Khalfan Khamis Mohamed (27), and Mr Mohamed Sadeek Odeh (35), a Jordanian.
Reuters