Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali

Mohamed Rashed Daoud Al-Owhali (born 18th January 1977) is a British-born Saudi militant and one of four men sentenced to life imprisonment for their roles in the 1998 US Embassy bombings carried out on 7th August 1998 by Al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad.

Role in the attack

During the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi, Al-Owhali sat in the passenger seat of the truck containing the bomb and was reportedly the one who fired on guard Benson Okuku Bwaku when he refused to open the gates. After the gates were opened, Al-Owhali reportedly threw a stun grenade at the embassy guards before jumping out of the truck and running away while the driver, a suicide bomber known only as Azzam, detonated the bomb, killing himself and 212 others and inflicting burn injuries on Al-Owhali. Osama bin Laden later offered the explanation that Al-Owhali had jumped out of the truck to shoot at the guards but had forgotten his gun and had to retreat.

Arrest

While Al-Owhali was receiving treatment for the injuries he received in the explosion, doctors became suspicious after noticing that the location of his injuries suggested he had been running away from the explosion, despite the majority of the civilian casualties being in the neighbouring building and therefore being mostly unaware of the attack. He was arrested on suspicion of terrorism on 12th August, and confessed to his role in the attack. After being taken to America for trial, he provided the FBI with the phone number that he had called before and after the bombing, which turned out to be to a house in Yemen owned by Ahmad al-Hada, the father-in-law of future 9/11 participant Khalid al-Mihdhar. The CIA later concluded that this was a communications hub for Al-Qaeda. He also provided the federal government with evidence against Walid Bin Attash and Abd Al Rahim Hussein Mohammed Al Nashiri, both of whom were reportedly facilitators of the bombing. He was convicted of complicity to murder and terrorism and sentenced to life without parole, along with Mohammed Odeh, Wadih el-Hage and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed.