Second US bombing suspect blames bin Laden for attacks

Odeh, who was arrested on the day of the bombing in Pakistan, was brought to a US courtroom yesterday on charges of murder, murder conspiracy and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

He told his lawyer he was a follower of Bin Laden, but insisted he was not part of the bombing plot. He also said hurting civilians was against his religion.

The complaint against Odeh also set out a wide-ranging case against Bin Laden, a multi-millionaire from Saudi Arabia now believed to be hiding out in Afghanistan. The same charges were brought a day earlier against another suspect brought from Kenya, Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali.

During a brief hearing yesterday, Odeh, said to be either a Jordanian or Palestinian who obtained Kenyan citizenship in 1994, was ordered held pending an appearance for September 28. Sachs said Odeh studied engineering in the Philippines and has a wife and child in Jordan.

The FBI complaint said Odeh accepted responsibility for the embassy bombings because he was a follower of Al Qaeda, which he believed conducted the attacks. Investigators claims Odeh was part of the plot, however.

Odeh allegedly admitted training Islamic fighters who opposed UN forces in Somalia in 1993 and learning enough about explosives at Al Qaeda training camps that he was able to carry out the embassy bombings this month.

He said he travelled to Kenya with a false passport on August two and met an explosives expert who led the Kenyan cell of Al Qaeda, according to the complaint. It alleged that he stayed with other members of the group at the Hilltop Hotel in Kenya, before travelling on August five to meet Bin Laden.