Profile: Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali

Al-'Owhali was portrayed as a naive understudy to Bin Laden

Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali grew up in Saudi Arabia, part of an upper middle class family.

According to evidence presented during his trial, by the age of 14 he had consumed books and recordings of sermons by fundamentalist Islamic clerics.

Al-'Owhali had admitted to the bombing

The defence tried to portray him as a naive understudy to Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden.

By the age of 18, Al-'Owhali had set out for Afghanistan where, after training with Mr Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organisation, he became one of the Islamic mujahedeen who helped drive the Soviet forces out of the country.

'Requesting a mission'

"He voluntarily gave up his life in Saudi Arabia and went to Afghanistan to fight. He risked his life to defend his religion and his community," defence lawyer David Baugh told jurors.

According to prosecutors, Al-'Owhali was granted a meeting with Mr Bin Laden at which he requested a "mission".

Prosecutors alleged Al-'Owhali was trained in a variety of terrorist operations. Later, he was taught how to operate and manage terrorist cells.

Confession

Al-'Owhali, 23, confessed to playing a direct role in the Nairobi bombing, assisting the driver of the truck carrying the bomb to the embassy, and then throwing stun grenades at embassy guards to create a diversion before fleeing.

He was among four people convicted last month of conspiring with Mr Bin Laden to carry out simultaneous bomb attacks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam in August 1998.

Al-'Owhali was treated for injuries from the blast at a hospital in Nairobi, where he threw away two keys to the bomb truck's rear padlock and three bullets from a gun he had mistakenly left behind in the truck.

He was captured as he waited in a hotel for fake documents and money from Al-Qaeda to flee the country.