Key events in the embassy bombings case:

--1989: The Soviet Union leaves Afghanistan after a 10-year struggle. Envisioning a worldwide jihad, or holy war, Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden summons victorious Muslims to his al Qaeda organization.

--1991: The United States drives Iraq from Kuwait in the Gulf War. Resenting the U.S. military presence in the region, bin Laden moves from Saudi Arabia to the Sudan. He later loses Saudi citizenship.

--1992: Ahmad Ajaj and Ramzi Yousef arrive in the United States after visiting Pakistan. Ajaj is taken into custody and authorities recover an al Qaeda bomb manual in his belongings.

--1993: A bomb explodes at the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000. Yousef flees, but is later arrested in Pakistan and convicted in the bombing. Ajaj and three others convicted of conspiracy.

--1996: Nineteen U.S. soldiers die when a truck bomb explodes in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden calls for further attacks against U.S. troops. Federal prosecutors in New York open grand jury investigation of bin Laden and al Qaeda.

--1998: Truck bombs explode Aug. 7 at U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. Bin Laden is blamed and the United States bombs sites in Afghanistan and the Sudan in retaliation.

--1998-99: Grand jury indicts bin Laden for the embassy bombings, one of 22 suspects named eventually. Thirteen, including bin Laden, remain at large but suspects Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owhali, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed and Mohammed Sadeek Odeh are brought to the United States. Wadih El-Hage of Arlington, Texas, is arrested.

--Jan 3, 2001: Jury selection begins.

--May 29: All four defendants are found guilty.

--May 30: Penalty phase begins.