The bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa last year killed 224 people  MESSAGE BOARD: Mideast peace

June 22, 1999
Web posted at: 2:21 p.m. EDT (1821 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Two of five men accused of being part of a worldwide terrorist organization headed by Osama bin Laden, believed to have masterminded the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies, appeared intent on fleeing from their pretrial hearing Tuesday.

The five were sitting in the jury box while their lawyers consulted with the judge when defendant Wadih El Hage leaped from his seat and ran toward an exit. At one point, he turned toward the judge. Startled U.S. marshals tackled him.

It was unclear whether he was trying to leave the courtroom or reach the judge.

As El Hage was being captured, defendant Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-'Owhali also jumped from the jury box, shouting "God is great" in Arabic. He, too, was restrained by the marshals.

A third defendant, Mohamed Sadeek Odeh, began yelling, but remained in his seat. All the defendants, including Mahdouh Mahmud Salim and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, were handcuffed and led out of the courtroom.

When they returned 15 minutes later, El Hage shouted that he had wanted to read a letter in the courtroom that said the embassy bombings in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, could have been avoided if U.S. officials had released information they had beforehand. The judge had earlier denied his request.

El Hage said he had done nothing violent and only wanted to read the letter, but there were too many restrictions in the United States.

"People who are doing this are turning this country into a police country," El Hage said.

El Hage has been described as the personal secretary to bin Laden, whom U.S. officials have accused of financing the August 7, 1998, blasts that killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.

Odeh and Al-'Owhali are accused of carrying out the Kenya bombing. Five other men still at large are accused in the Tanzania attack.

The State Department has offered at least $5 million for the arrest of bin Laden, thought to be hiding in Afghanistan.

Correspondent Gary Tuchman contributed to this report.