A Tanzanian accused of involvement in the bombing attack against the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam in 1998 was on Wednesday acquitted by Tanzanian High Court.  

Rashid Saleh Hemed was discharged after Judge Emilian Mushi spent more than two hours going through the evidence brought before him by both the prosecution and the defense counsel, and the judge gave his verdict of not guilty.

The judge explained the prosecution had failed to provide enough evidence to establish its case against the 34-year-old Tanzanian national.

Hearing of the Hemed case concluded last year after the prosecution called up 18 witnesses while the defense counsel called up three witnesses including Hemed himself.

Three court assessors declared Hemed as innocent on February 12, saying the prosecution did not prove beyond reasonable doubt its charge that the accused had conspired with six others to plant the bomb that exploded at the US Embassy on August 7, 1998, killing 11 people and injuring 70 others.

The attack, happened almost simultaneously with a bombing attack against the US Embassy in Kenyan capital Nairobi, which killed more than 200, made international headlines and was suspected to be masterminded by Osama bin Laden's terror network al-Qaeda.

The investigative findings by a Tanzanian task force resulted in the trial of Hemed, charged with 15 counts that in July 2000 were reduced to one of conspiracy to murder.

Other suspects allegedly involved in the bombing attack against the US Embassy included Ahmed Ghailan, Khalfan Hamis Mohamed, Mustapha Fadhili, Sheikh Ahmed Salim, Fahad Mohamed Msalam, and Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahmed.

Khalfan Hamis Mohamed is now serving life imprisonment in the United States while Ahmed Ghailan was caught earlier this year in Pakistan. Mustafa Mahmoud Said Ahmed was deported to his native country of Egypt.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2004)