Prosecutors argue for repeal of Saudi citizen confession

NEW YORK (AP) - A Saudi on trial in the deadly 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa asked a judge in a closed hearing yesterday to throw out his confession, arguing in court papers that American interrogators threatened to hang him "like a dog" if he did not cooperate.

Federal prosecutors say Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali admitted hurling a stun grenade at a guard outside the embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, just before a bomb exploded, killing more than 200 people.

Al-'Owhali, 24, said his confession was coerced by U.S. investigators who threatened to hurt him and his family, according to court papers.

The hearing, scheduled to last four days, will determine whether jurors hearing the case against Al-'Owhali and three other alleged followers of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden can see the confession.

If U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand excludes the confession, it would be a significant victory for the defense. Prosecutors, however, have had substantial success in earlier terrorism cases, convicting defendants even without confessions.

The dispute over the confession halted jury selection until next week. Sand has closed the hearing to the public, saying disclosures could affect the fairness of the trial and even national security, but many details are outlined in court filings.

Al-'Owhali is one of four men who went on trial Jan. 3 on conspiracy charges in the twin attacks on U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998. The bombings killed 224 people, including 12 Americans, and wounded more than 5,000 others.

If convicted, Al-'Owhali and another man, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, of Tanzania, could be sentenced to death.

Al-'Owhali's confession, as recounted by the FBI, provides an inside look at a plot prosecutors allege was engineered by bin Laden, who is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Al-'Owhali told the bureau that the Nairobi bombing was meant to be a suicide attack, though he managed to escape with only minor injuries and was arrested five days later.

Prosecutors have accused Al-'Owhali of conducting surveillance of the embassy three days before the attack. Afterward, he allegedly discarded two keys that fit the padlock on the bomb-laden vehicle and three bullets from a gun he left behind in the vehicle.

FBI agent Stephen Gaudin testified that he properly advised Al-'Owhali of his rights as he spoke with him six times over eight days in Nairobi. He said Al-'Owhali asked to go to the United States.

"He said that America was his enemy and not the Kenyans and, as such, he would rather be tried in the United States than Kenya," Gaudin said.

At one point, Gaudin said, Al-'Owhali threatened the families of investigators. According to the suspect, however, interrogators told him he would "be hanged from your neck like a dog" unless he cooperated.

He also said U.S. investigators promised he would get a fair trial and a more lenient sentence in the United States, while a Kenyan officer told him proceedings there would result in "a closed trial and a quick execution."

In court papers, the government has said it would establish that Al-'Owhali "embraced the opportunity to speak with the American officials, and that he did so voluntarily and with full knowledge of the consequences of his actions."

The trial is expected to last up to a year, with interpreters of Swahili and Arabic on hand for the defendants. In all, prosecutors have charged 22 men in the bombings. Bin Laden and 12 others remain at large.