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Based on evidence developed in its investigation of the 1998 bombings of two
American embassies in Africa, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Osama bin
Laden and Al Qaeda's military commander, Mohammed Atef, on Nov. 4, 1998,
for conspiring to kill Americans. The indictment included the following
references to Somalia and Al Qaeda's training and support to Somali
fighters.
* ...Third, al Qaeda opposed the involvement of the United States armed forces
in the Gulf War in 1991 and in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992 and
1993, which were viewed by al Qaeda as pretextual preparations for an American
occupation of Islamic countries....
* ...At various times from at least as early as 1989, the defendant USAMA BIN
LADEN, and others known and unknown, provided training camps and guesthouses in
various areas, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, Somalia and Kenya
for the use of al Qaeda and its affiliated groups.
The Fatwah Against American Troops in Somalia
At various times from in or about 1992 until in or about 1993, the defendant
USAMA BIN LADEN, working together with members of the fatwah committee
of al Qaeda, disseminated fatwahs to other members and associates of al
Qaeda that the United States forces stationed in the Horn of Africa, including
Somalia, should be attacked;
The Establishment of Training Camps for Somalia
In or about late 1992 and 1993, the defendant MUHAMMAD ATEF traveled to
Somalia on several occasions for the purpose of determining how best to cause
violence to the United States and United Nations military forces stationed
there and reported back to the defendant USAMA BIN LADEN and other al Qaeda
members at USAMA BIN LADENS's facilities located in Khartoum, the Sudan;
Beginning in or about early spring 1993, al Qaeda members, including the
defendants MUHAMMAD ATEF, SAIF AL ADEL, ABDULLAH AHMED ABDULLAH, a/k/a/ "Abu
Mohamed el Masry," ... along with "Abu Ubaidah al Banshiri," a co-conspirator
not named herein as a defendant, provided military training and assistance to
Somali tribes opposed to the United Nations' intervention in Somalia;
The Attacks on the United States Forces in Somalia
w. On October 3 and 4, 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, persons who had been
trained by al Qaeda (and by trainers trained by al Qaeda) participated in an
attack on United States military personnel serving in Somalia as part of
Operation Restore Hope, which attack resulted in the killing of 18 United
States Army personnel, namely, Donovan L. Briley, Daniel D. Busch, James M.
Cavaco, William D. Cleveland, Thomas J. Field, Earl Fillmore, Raymond Frank,
Gary I. Gordon, James C. Joyce, Richard W. Kowalski, James Martin, Timothy
Martin, Dominick M. Pilla, Matthew L. Rierson, Lorenzo M. Ruiz, Randall D.
Shughart, James E. Smith, and Clifton Wolcott.
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