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Prosecutor: Terror trial defendant eagerly served bin Laden

FILE- In this Jan. 20, 2015 courtroom sketch, Khaled al-Fawwaz, right, a defendant in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, is seated next to his defense attorney, Barbara O'Connor, during jury selection in Manhattan Federal Court. Prosecutors say al-Fawwaz, an early leader of al-Qaida, conspired in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)
FILE- In this Jan. 20, 2015 courtroom sketch, Khaled al-Fawwaz, right, a defendant in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, is seated next to his defense attorney, Barbara O'Connor, during jury selection in Manhattan Federal Court. Prosecutors say al-Fawwaz, an early leader of al-Qaida, conspired in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File) FILE- In this Jan. 20, 2015 courtroom sketch, Khaled al-Fawwaz, right, a defendant in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people, is seated next to his defense attorney, Barbara O'Connor, during jury selection in Manhattan Federal Court. Prosecutors say al-Fawwaz, an early leader of al-Qaida, conspired in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The attacks killed 224 people, including a dozen Americans. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File)

By Associated Press 3 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – A Saudi Arabian on trial for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans made sure Osama bin Laden’s messages were spread throughout the world before he was arrested in the wake of two deadly bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday at the start of closing arguments.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Buckley pointed at Khaled al-Fawwaz as he accused him of being one of al-Qaida’s top operatives for nearly a decade, serving as a “bridge to the West” as bin Laden sought to spread his message that Americans should be killed wherever they are found.

He called al-Fawwaz al-Qaida’s “expert on how to reach the West” and said he “understood the language of the Western media.”

Buckley said al-Fawwaz “operated at the very heart of this conspiracy.”

Buckley’s closing was to be followed Thursday by those from a defense lawyer and another prosecutor before jurors begin deliberations, likely on Friday.