Accused bin Laden spokesman faces U.S. trial on terror charges

By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - The man whom U.S. authorities accuse of helping Osama bin Laden disseminate calls for Muslims to wage war on Americans went on trial on Tuesday on terror charges related to the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Khalid al-Fawwaz, a 52-year-old Saudi national, faces up to life in prison if convicted on five counts, including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. Jury selection began on Tuesday in the trial, which is expected to last about a month. The case appears to have drawn additional security to the courthouse in downtown Manhattan, where police officers and U.S. Homeland Security personnel toted automatic weapons on Tuesday. Al-Fawwaz has been imprisoned for more than 15 years while awaiting trial, first in the United Kingdom and then in the United States following a lengthy extradition battle. He originally faced trial alongside two co-defendants, Abu Anas al-Liby of Libya and Abdul Adel Bary of Egypt. But al-Liby, who was snatched in October 2013 by U.S. forces in Tripoli, died this month after years of medical problems. Bary pleaded guilty in September in a deal that limited his maximum sentence to 25 years. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 6 before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is also overseeing the al-Fawwaz trial. A lawyer for al-Fawwaz did not respond to a request for comment. According to U.S. prosecutors, the al Qaeda media office was launched in 1994 under al-Fawwaz's leadership to publicize bin Laden's statements. In August 1996, bin Laden issued his first fatwa, or religious decree, calling on Muslims to drive U.S. soldiers out of Saudi Arabia. But al-Fawwaz also used the office to funnel supplies to al Qaeda, including a satellite phone for bin Laden, and to facilitate internal communications among al Qaeda associates, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say al-Fawwaz disseminated messages from bin Laden to media outlets in 1996 and 1998, including declarations of war against Americans. Al-Fawwaz is the third alleged al Qaeda figure to face trial in New York in the past year. One of bin Laden's sons-in-law, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, was convicted last March of aiding al Qaeda. Two months later, radical London imam Abu Hamza al-Masri was found guilty for his role in the 1998 kidnapping of Western tourists in Yemen that left four hostages dead, among other crimes. Both were sentenced to life in U.S. prison. (Reporting by Joseph Ax, editing by G Crosse)