US dismisses criminal charges against bin Laden

Such requests are procedural and routine in case where defendants named in indictment die

By Associated Press

Published June 17, 2011 4:15PM (EDT)

FILE - In this 1998 file photo made available Friday, March 19, 2004, Ayman al-Zawahri, left, poses for a photograph with Osama bin Laden, right, in Khost, Afghanistan. Al-Qaida has selected its longtime No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, to succeed Osama bin Laden following last month's U.S. commando raid that killed the terror leader, according to a statement posted Thursday, June 16, 2011 on a website affiliated with the network. (AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan, File) (AP)
FILE - In this 1998 file photo made available Friday, March 19, 2004, Ayman al-Zawahri, left, poses for a photograph with Osama bin Laden, right, in Khost, Afghanistan. Al-Qaida has selected its longtime No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, to succeed Osama bin Laden following last month's U.S. commando raid that killed the terror leader, according to a statement posted Thursday, June 16, 2011 on a website affiliated with the network. (AP Photo/Mazhar Ali Khan, File) (AP)

A federal judge has approved a request by prosecutors to officially dismiss all criminal charges against Osama bin Laden.

The order was made public Friday, more than six weeks after bin Laden was killed by the U.S. military in a raid on his hideout in Pakistan. Such requests are procedural and routine in case where defendants named in indictment die.

The al-Qaida leader was indicted in June 1998 in federal court in Manhattan on charges related to the terrorist attacks on the two U.S. embassies in Africa. It's the only federal indictment to charge him.

The charges included conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, conspiracy to destroy U.S. property and use of a weapon of mass destruction.


By Associated Press

MORE FROM Associated Press

Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Osama Bin Laden