Former Terrorist Says He Warned Officials of Attacks

N E W   Y O R K, Feb. 7, 2001 -- A former terrorist and associate of Osama bin Laden testified today that he warned government officials about possible attacks on U.S. embassies two years before the fatal 1998 bombings in Africa.

Jamal Ahmed Mohmamed Al-Fadl, the first witness in the trial of four men charged in the deadly bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, returned to the stand today to continue to provide a rare glimpse at the inner workings of bin Laden's terrorist group, al-Qaeda. In meetings in 1996, Al-Fadl said he told embassy officials, and later FBI agents, that bin Laden and his followers wanted to wage waragainst America and warned of possible attacks within the UnitedStates and on U.S. military forces overseas.

Al-Fadl said he told officials he had heard talk that al-Qaeda would"make bombs against your embassies." He also recalled once buying $1.5 million worth of uranium for al-Qaeda.

Twelve Americans were among the 224 people killed when bombs were detonated almost simultaneously in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998. Federal prosecutors hope to prove the bombings were the work of al Qaeda as part of a worldwide conspiracy to kill Americans.

A former member of al Qaeda, Al-Fadl testified today that he fell out of favor with his associates when he stole $110,000 from them by taking a commission for selling some goods. Ultimately, he had a meeting with bin Laden about the theft.

"We don't care about the money, we care about you," Al-Fadl recalled bin Laden telling him. "You are one of the best members of al Qaeda. … Why did you steal the money?"

Al-Fadl said he told bin Laden that he did not make much money and that most Egyptians made more than he did. Bin Laden told Al-Fadl that he should have come to him with this problem. When he asked for forgiveness, Al-Fadl testified, bin Laden told him he would not be forgiven until all of the money was returned.

Al-Fadl paid back $30,000 but he said bin Laden insisted on full payment. Soon, Al-Fadl said he left al Qaeda, leaving the Sudan and eventually showing up at a U.S. embassy in an unnamed country. He arranged to meet with three U.S. officials and told them that if they could help him he would give them information about a group that was plotting attacks against the United States.

Making a Deal

Al-Fadl met with government officials in the spring and summer of 1996. At first, he said, he did not tell investigators that he had stolen money from al Qaeda. But when his trustworthiness was questioned, Al-Fadl eventually confessed his reason for breaking from his former associates.

More meetings between Al-Fadl and U.S. officials continued in Europe, and he agreed to plead guilty to terrorism and illegal transport of weapons. Al-Fadl said he was told he could spend up to 15 years in prison, but that he may also be able to avoid spending any time behind bars.

Al-Fadl was transferred into the custody of the FBI and placed in a federal witness protection program. Government officials arranged for his family to be moved from the Sudan to the United States. Al-Fadl said he asked the government to reward him for his information, but he was told that once he plead guilty to working with Al Qaeda that he would not be rewarded monetarily. Al-Fadl still has not been sentenced to serve any time.

The Inner Workings of a Terror Group

Before Tuesday, Al-Fadl was referred to in court papers only as "CS-1" — confidential source-one — and U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand warned court sketch artists not to draw his face. In his two days of testimony, Al-Fadl has given a rare glimpse at the inner workings of bin Laden's terrorist group. On Tuesday, he said he was present al Qaeda's meetings on American involvement in Somalia. Al Fadl said al Qaeda members, including bin Laden, spoke about making war, "to try hard to fight … to stop what United States was doing in the Horn of Africa."

"We have to do something to take them out," he quoted binLaden as saying about the U.S. military. "We have to fight them."

According to Al-Fadl, bin Laden started thinking about forming al Qaeda in 1989 to change the government in Afghanistan. After the Gulf War, Al-Fadl said, bin Laden issued a series of religious edicts urging a Muslim war against America.

Within al Qaeda, he said, there are various committees, including a military committee, an Islamic committee, and a media and news committee. Al-Fadl testified that there are satellite al Qaeda groups throughout the world, and spoke specifically about its ties to groups in Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Chechnya, London, Azerbaijan, Cyprus and Eritrea.

Al-Fadl has not testified about the specific bombings of the U.S. embassies, but has explained his part in the transportation of four crates of weapons and explosives to Port Sudan so they could be shipped to Saudia Arabia to be used against the American military. And he identified several bin Laden associates — including defendant Wadih El-Hage, who allegedly worked as a personal secretary to bin Laden.

El-Hage, 40, and defendant Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, 35, could facelife sentences if convicted of conspiracy in the bombing of the embassies. Mohamed RashedDaoud Al-'Owhali, 24, and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, 27, could facedeath sentences.

Court is in recess until Tuesday, when Al-Fadl is expected to return to the stand for cross-examination.

Reported by ABCNEWS' Jill Krauss.