By 1998 , O'Neill had become focused on Osama bin Laden , and created an Al Qaeda desk in his division . In August 1998 , two United States embassies were bombed in quick succession in simultaneous attacks in Nairobi , Kenya , and Dar es Salaam , Tanzania . O'Neill hoped to be involved in the investigation because he had gained a tremendous knowledge of Osama bin Laden 's al-Qaeda terrorist network . O'Neill persuaded FBI Director Freeh to let his office handle the case , and prosecutor Mary Jo White later said that " John O'Neill , in the investigation of the bombings of our embassies in East Africa , created the template for successful investigations of international terrorism around the world . " When his friend Chris Isham , a producer for ABC News , arranged for an interview between bin Laden and correspondent John Miller , Isham and Miller used information put together by O'Neill to formulate the questions . After the interview aired , O'Neill pushed Isham hard to release an unedited version so he could carefully dissect it
two United States embassies were bombed
1998 United States embassy bombings
John P. O'Neill