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Efforts to Obtain Custody of Osama Bin Laden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2017

Sean D. Murphy
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Type
Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 94 , Issue 2 , April 2000 , pp. 366 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 2000

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References

1 For background, see Sean D. Murphy, Contemporary Practice of the United States, 93 AJIL 161 (1999). For a summary of die indictment, see Letter Dated 1 October 1999 from the Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations Addressed to the Secretary-General, UN Doc. S/1999/1021 (1999).

2 Of the defendants in custody in the United States, two were arrested in the United States, two were turned over to U.S. authorities in Kenya, one was arrested in, and extradited by, Germany, and one was arrested in, and extradited by, South Africa. See Lynne Duke, Ninth Suspect Charged in Embassy Bombings, WASH. POST, Oct. 9,1999, at A2; U.S. Dep’t of State Fact Sheet on Steps Taken to Serve Justice in the Bombings of U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania (Aug. 4, 1999), available in <http://www.state.gov/www/regions/africa/fs_anniv_steps.html>.

3 David Stout, Bin Laden Denies Role in Embassy Bombings, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 25, 1998, at A7; Bin Laden Calls for Attacks on More Targets, WASH. POST, Dec. 26, 1998, at A22.

4 See, e.g., Colum Lynch & Vernon Loeb, Bin Laden’s Network: Terror Conspiracy or Loose Alliance?, WASH. POST, Aug. 1,1999, at Al; Tim Weiner, U.S. Hard Put to Find Proof Bin Laden Directed Attacks, N.Y. Times, Apr. 13,1999, at Al; Benjamin Weiser, Prosecutors Portray the Strands of a Bin Laden Web of Terror, N.Y. TIMES, Jan. 23, 2000, at 1.

5 Vernon Loeb, Bin Laden Still Seen As Threat, WASH. POST, July 29, 1999, at A3.

6 Hearings Before the Subcomm. on NearE. and S. Asian Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Comm., 106th Cong. (Nov. 2, 1999) (testimony of Ambassador Michael A. Sheehan, coordinator for counterterrorism, U.S. Dep’t of State), available in <http://www.state.gov/www/policy_remarks/1999/991102_sheehan_terrorism.html>.

7 Exec. Order No. 13,129, 64 Fed. Reg. 36,759 (1999). Although the Taliban controlled approximately 85 percent of Afghanistan, the United States did not recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban conceded that Mr. bin Laden was living in the portion of Afghanistan under their control. Thomas W. Lippman, Taliban Says Bin Laden in Its Sector of Afghanistan, WASH. POST, July 9, 1999, at A25.

8 Letter to Congressional Leaders Reporting on the National Emergency with Respect to the T aliban, 35 WEEKLY COMP. PRES. DOCS. 1283 (July 12,1999); sec John Lancaster, Clinton Bans Trading With Taliban Militia, WASH. Po st, July 7,1999, at A15.

9 Colum Lynch, U.S. Seeks Embargo on Taliban, WASH. POST, Oct. 7, 1999, at A25.

10 SC Res. 1214, para. 13 (Dec. 8, 1998).

11 SC Res. 1267, para. 2 (Oct. 15, 1999), 39 ILM 235 (2000).

12 Id., paras. 3-4. Two Islamic nations, Bahrain and Malaysia, voted in favor of the resolution. Passage of the resolution took place in the context of the Security Council’s increasing awareness of the need to combat international terrorism. See, e.g., SC Res. 1269 (Oct. 18, 1999), 39 ILM 238 (2000) (calling upon all states to prevent and suppress terrorist activities); Letter Dated 23 September 1999 from the Permanent Representatives of China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America to the United Nations Addressed to the Secretary-General, Annex II, UN Doc. S/1999/996 (1999) (statement by permanent members on combating international terrorism). Concomitantly, the General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, GA Res. 54/109 (Dec. 9,1999); see Barbara Crossette, UN. Votes for a Plan That Would Cut Off Fundsfor Terrorists, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 28,1999, at A15.

13 Pamela Constable, Taliban Greets U.N. Sanctions with Defiance, Wash. Post, N ov. 28, 1999, at A27; Barbara Crossette, U.S. Presses Taliban to Deliver Osama Bin Laden, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 19,1999, at A6; Barbara Crossette, New Sanctions Incite Attacks by Afghans at U.N. Sites, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 16, 1999, at A6.

14 Pamela Constable, Iran OpeningEases Choke Hold of U.N. Sanctions on Afghans, WASH. POST, Dec. 22,1999, at A25.

15 For a discussion of the decision process within the U.S. government to bomb the plant, see James Risen, To Bomb Sudan Plant, or Not: A Year Later, Debates Rankle, N.Y. TIMES, Oct. 27, 1999, at A1.

16 Council of the League of Arab States Res. 5896, para. 7 (Sept. 13, 1999), reprinted in Letter Dated 23 September 1999 from the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States to the United Nations Addressed to the President of the Security Council, UN Doc. S/1999/997, annex, para. 7 (1999).

17 James Risen & David Johnston, Experts Find No Arms Chemicals at Bombed Sudan Plant, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 9,1999, at A3; Vernon Loeb, A Dirty Business, WASH. POST, July 25, 1999, at FI.

18 Vernon Loeb, Plant Owner to Sue U.S. to Free Frozen Assets, WASH. POST, Feb. 26,1999, at A3; Vernon Loeb, U.S. Unfreezes $24 Million in Assets of Saudi Who Oxuned El Shifa Plant, WASH. POST, May 4, 1999, at All.