A secret witness known until yesterday only as CS-1 gave an account of his dealings with Osama bin Laden, the fugitive Saudi Arabian millionaire and terrorist. He was named as Jamal Ahmed Alfadl and appeared in the Old Federal Courthouse in Manhattan with a light beard, wearing a white T-shirt under a striped top that hung loose over blue denims.
Mr Alfadl said that he had come to the US in 1986, where he worked in a grocery store and raised money for the war in Afghanistan against the former Soviet Union. Later he made his way to Pakistan and then Afghanistan where there was a meeting. "Somebody came and we talked about Jihad, what we had to do. Jihad means when the enemy comes to Muslim country and they can't push the enemy back they ask for other brothers to help push the enemy out."
This somebody, said Mr Alfadl, was Abu Hajer al Iraqi, otherwise known as Osama bin Laden. After prayers and discussion of the Soviet army, "he make much about Jihad'.
Mr Alfadl says that he worked for bin Laden until five years ago, was caught stealing money from the organisation, went on the run and decided to co-operate with the Americans in an attempt to save his family.
His evidence forms much of the indictment against the four men on trial, accused of the conspiracy on behalf of bin Laden that led to the deaths of 224 people in the bombings of American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam in August 1998. Two, charged with direct involvement, face the death penalty if convicted and the other two could be jailed for life.