USA

Confessed Islamic Jihad Figure Given 25-Year Sentence

FILE - Adel Abdul Bary, seated, is seen with fellow terror suspect Khalid al-Fawwaz in this sketch made during an appearance in Manhattan Federal Court in New York, Oct. 6, 2012.

A U.S. federal judge Friday sentenced a confessed terrorist to 25 years in prison for various activities, including announcing al-Qaida's claim of responsibility for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Adel Abdul Bary was extradited from London to the United States in 2012. He pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to threaten to kill U.S. citizens.

U.S. prosecutors said Bary led the London cell of Egypt's Islamic Jihad terrorist group and also worked closely with top al-Qaida leaders before and after the embassy bombings that killed 224 people.

It was Bary who telephoned al-Qaida's claim of responsibility for the African bombings to the global news media.

John Carlin, assistant attorney general for national security, said the sentence holds Bary accountable for "his key role in facilitating the delivery of al-Qaida’s message to extremists around the world encouraging the commission of violent acts against the United States and its citizens."