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NEW YORK (AP) — A prosecutor says today's life prison sentence for a former top aide to Osama bin Laden is justified.
The sentence came at the New York trial of Khaled al-Fawwaz (kah-LEED' al-fah-WAHZ'), who'd been convicted in the 1998 bombings of two embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans.
In court today, al-Fawwaz was confronted by people who lost loved ones, and by a woman who was blinded in one of the attacks. That woman, Ellen Karas, told him, "I worship the same God as you. But he is not an angry God. He is not a vengeful God."
Edith Bartley, whose father and brother were killed, told the judge that al-Fawwaz deserved a life term. She said, "He has had his day in court" -- but that he "stands before you unrepentant."
Addressing the survivors and the families of those killed, Al-Fawwaz said, "I can't find words to describe how terribly sad and sorry I am." He said he doesn't support violence -- and hopes that "one day people will find other ways to live with their differences."
But the judge told al-Fawwaz that he didn't believe him -- and that the jury clearly "didn't share that picture of you."
%@AP Links
204-a-03-(Ellen Karas (KEHR'-uhs), victim of U.S. Embassy bombing in Kenya, with reporters)-"has been served"-Ellen Karas, who was blinded in the Kenya embassy bombing, says Khaled al-Fawwaz got the sentence he deserved. (15 May 2015)
<<CUT *204 (05/15/15)££ 00:03 "has been served"
203-a-09-(Ellen Karas (KEHR'-uhs), victim of U.S. Embassy bombing in Kenya, with reporters)-"it every day"-Ellen Karas, who was blinded in the Kenya embassy bombing, says Hhaled al-Fawwaz got the right sentence. (15 May 2015)
<<CUT *203 (05/15/15)££ 00:09 "it every day"
APPHOTO NYBM101: Ellen Karas, center, blinded in the 1998 bombing attacks on two U.S. embassies in Africa, speaks with the media as she leaves court Friday, May 15, 2015, in New York, after Khaled al-Fawwaz, a former top aide to Osama bin Laden, was sentence to life for conspiring in the attacks. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) (15 May 2015)
<<APPHOTO NYBM101 (05/15/15)££
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