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Osama Bin Laden’s Former Spokesman Set for London Return after US Prison Term

Adel Abdel Bary, 60, seen here in a court sketch from September 19, was convicted of terror offenses for his role in Al-Qaeda’s 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. (Reuters/File Photo)
Adel Abdel Bary, 60, seen here in a court sketch from September 19, was convicted of terror offenses for his role in Al-Qaeda’s 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. (Reuters/File Photo)
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Osama Bin Laden’s Former Spokesman Set for London Return after US Prison Term

Adel Abdel Bary, 60, seen here in a court sketch from September 19, was convicted of terror offenses for his role in Al-Qaeda’s 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. (Reuters/File Photo)
Adel Abdel Bary, 60, seen here in a court sketch from September 19, was convicted of terror offenses for his role in Al-Qaeda’s 1998 attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. (Reuters/File Photo)

Osama bin Laden’s former London spokesman is set to return to Britain a free man after being released from jail in the US because of concerns about COVID-19 in prison.

Adel Abdel Bary is obese and suffers from asthma and is highly prone to coronavirus infection.

Bary, 60, was convicted for taking part in the terror attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 and wounded dozens in 1998.

A year later he was arrested in Britain and eventually extradited to the US after a protracted legal battle. He agreed to a plea deal that involved admitting three charges, including conspiracy to murder US citizens abroad.

In 2015 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison but consideration was given to the 16 years he had already spent in custody.

Bary had been charged with 285 offenses, eventually pleaded guilty to just a handful, including threatening to kill by means of explosives and conspiracy to murder US citizens abroad.

Notably, he was born in Egypt but granted asylum in Britain in the early 1990s.

He is currently in a US immigration and customs enforcement detention facility until he is sent back to the UK.

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South Korean President Lee, Xi Pledge Closer Economic, Security Cooperation 

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, 10 June 2025. (EPA/Yonhap)
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, 10 June 2025. (EPA/Yonhap)
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South Korean President Lee, Xi Pledge Closer Economic, Security Cooperation 

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, 10 June 2025. (EPA/Yonhap)
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul, South Korea, 10 June 2025. (EPA/Yonhap)

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Tuesday to work for substantive advances in economic ties and peace and security on the Korean peninsula, Lee's office said.

In their first phone call since Lee took office last week, the South Korean president told Xi he hoped the two countries would pursue a more active exchange and cooperation in the areas of economy, security and culture, his spokesperson said.

"President Lee requested China to play a constructive role for the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and peace and security," Kang Yu-jung told a briefing.

"President Xi in response said the Chinese side would make efforts for the resolution of the issues ... as they are matters of common interest to the two countries," Kang said.

Lee took office on June 4 after winning the presidency in a snap election called after the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol over a failed martial law attempt in December. Lee has since spoken to US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.

Chinese state media earlier said Xi told Lee that the two countries should respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and ensure ties move forward "on the right track."

A strategic cooperative partnership between both countries would bring more benefits to both and "inject more certainty into the chaotic regional and international situation," Xi was quoted as saying by state broadcaster CCTV.

China is South Korea's biggest trading partner and diplomatic relations between the two have improved since a 2017 spat over South Korea's installation of a US missile defense system that Beijing opposed.

While reiterating the importance of the US-South Korea alliance, Lee has also expressed more conciliatory plans for ties with China and North Korea, singling out the importance of China as a major trading partner while indicating a reluctance to take a firm stance on security tensions in the Taiwan Strait.