United States V. Usama Bin Laden et al. Indictment

The criminal case against Saudi exile Osama bin Laden began in the United States District Court in lower Manhattan, where federal prosecutors filed the first charges against the alleged terrorist mastermind. A series of superceding indictments obtained by the [Page 389]United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, United States v. Usama bin Laden et al. became the most complete set of American accusations against bin Laden prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon near Washington, D.C.

The first indictment of bin Laden handed down by a grand jury came in June 1998. It contained only one charge: conspiracy to attack national defense utilities of the United States. This indictment, initially sealed from public view, contained what would become the core of the government's case against bin ...