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08/06/03
Five
years ago today, August 7, 1998, nearly simultaneous bombs
blew up in front of the American embassies in Nairobi, Kenya,
and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Two hundred and twenty-four people
died in the blasts, including 12 Americans, and more than
4,500 people were wounded. In the aftermath of the attacks,
over 900 FBI Special Agents alone -- and many more FBI employees
-- traveled overseas to assist in the recovery of evidence
and the identification of victims at the bombsites and to
track down the perpetrators. Extraordinary efforts from our
federal and international partners led to the identification,
arrest, and extradition to the United States of four members
of the al Qaeda terrorist network for their role in the bombings.
An American jury found each terrorist guilty, and all were
sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 for their roles in
the conspiracy.
The KENBOM
and TANBOM investigations -- as the FBI calls them -- represented
at that time the largest FBI deployment in FBI history and
highlighted the need for an expanded FBI overseas presence
that could quickly respond to acts of terrorism that involve
Americans. It could not have happened at all, however, without
three landmark pieces of legislation enacted by Congress in
the 1980s and 1990s -- all having to do with extraterritorial
jurisdiction, the "long arm of the law."
The
1984 Comprehensive Crime Control Act authorized the Bureau
to investigate international terrorism cases where Americans
are taken hostage. Two years later, the Omnibus Diplomatic
Security and Antiterrorism Act broadened FBI extraterritorial
responsibilities to include terrorist incidents where an American
is assaulted or murdered. For example, in 1988, the FBI arrested,
under these laws, terrorist Fawaz Younis in international
waters for his role in hijacking Royal Jordanian Flight 402
with four American nationals on board. In 1996, the Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act was enacted, creating additional
ways to specifically combat the problem of international terrorist
infrastructures.
Today
the FBI works 24/7 in concert with international law enforcement
and intelligence agencies, as well as with its partners in
the United States, to stop terrorists in their tracks and
eliminate their support structures. It's our number-one priority.
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