Masked killer beheaded two U.S. journalists and one aid worker in Syria

But U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan put the deal on hold at court today

The father of the ISIS militant suspected of being 'Jihadi John' today wept as he admitted plotting with Osama bin Laden to blow up U.S. embassies.

Adel Abdul Bary, 54, pleaded guilty to charges of making a threat to use an explosive device and conspiracy to murder Americans at Manhattan federal court.

His charges were in relation to the 1998 plot to bomb two U.S. embassies in Africa, which left 224 people dead, including 12 Americans.

The Egyptian lawyer, whose son, British rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, is suspected of beheading three hostages on video in Syria, made the guilty pleas in a bid to greatly reduce his sentence.

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On trial: Adel Abdul Bary, 54, today pleaded guilty to charges of making a threat to use an explosive device and conspiracy to murder Americans at Manhattan federal court. Above, a drawing of Bary in court today

Weeping: According to his indictment, Bary was made head of the London cell of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1996

Father and son: Bary (right), whose son, British rapper Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary (left), is suspected of being 'Jihadi John', made the guilty pleas in a bid to greatly reduce his sentence, but the deal was put on hold

But U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan put the deal on hold, saying he wanted to hear further arguments before dropping more serious terrorism charges that carry a possible life sentence.

Today, Bary, who allegedly carried out the plot from a London cell of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, shook his head and wept as he admitted that he had essentially acted as an al-Qaida spokesman following the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

He told the judge he had contacted the media to claim responsibility for the attacks and later put reporters in touch with al-Qaida leaders bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

'I arranged to transmit messages from media personnel to my co-conspirators, al-Zawahiri and bin Laden,' he said, reading from a statement.

Wiping his eyes with tissues, he added: 'I agreed with others … to kill American citizens anywhere in the world — either civilian or military,' according to the New York Post.

Bary, who earlier told the judge he was facing treatment for depression, is charged with 213 counts of premeditated murder for the Nairobi bombing and 11 more for the attack in Dar es Salaam.

ISIS militant: The younger Bary, 23, left his million-dollar home in Maida Vale, London, to fight with ISIS, which has run rampage through Syria and Iraq. Above, he is seen rapping before fleeing the country to fight

Beheading: 'Jihadi John' has beheaded three hostages on video in Syria, including U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff

He is also charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and several lesser charges, and faces life in prison if convicted.

Bary, who has a long history of terror involvement, was imprisoned and tortured in Egypt following the murder of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, according to a sympathetic profile of his wife which appeared in the Guardian last year.

After years of going in and out of prison in Egypt, during which he managed to gain a degree and become a respected human rights lawyer with ties to Amnesty International, he managed to leave the country and in 1991, the year Bary was born, he applied for political asylum in Britain.

His family joined him after it was granted in 1993. Two years later, he was sentenced to death in absentia for a 1995 plot to blow up a market in Cairo's bazaar district. In a separate Egyptian trial in 1999 he was also sentenced to life in prison.

According to the Guardian, he was then arrested soon after the August 7, 1998 embassy bombings.

Fighter: Abdel-Majed Bary (pictured performing ISIS's one-finger salute while holding a gun) showed his barbarism when he posted a grisly picture of himself holding a severed head to his Twitter account

'There was a dawn raid by British police in white contamination suits, brandishing truncheons and breaking down the front door. Ragaa and the children were traumatized.

'A dozen or so men were suddenly in their bedrooms, shouting for her husband, searching the children's clothes, tearing out pages from any books with telephone numbers.

'Adel was led away, and Ragaa, hurriedly putting on her black hijab and abaya, was told to get into a bus with her five children, one of whom was a small baby.'

But British authorities found nothing to tie Bary to the embassy bombings and he was soon released. He was charged with having unlawful gas canisters but was acquitted at trial, the Guardian said.

He was arrested again when the United States applied for his extradition on the same charges that the British had dismissed and he was then held in Long Lartin and Manchester prisons, at one time going on hunger strike to protest what he considered racist treatment by guards.

Attack: Bary's charges were in relation to the 1998 plot to bomb two U.S. embassies in Africa, which left 224 people dead, including 12 Americans. Above, rescuers carry an injured man from the wreckage of the attack

According to his indictment in the embassy bombing case, al-Zawahiri appointed him head of the London cell of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in May 1996.

The next year he leased an office in Beethoven Street, just off London's Kilburn Lane, which became bin Laden's 'media information office,' the indictment says.

It was also set up to ' to provide a cover for activity in support of al Qaeda's 'military' activities, including the recruitment of military trainees, the disbursement of funds and the procurement of necessary equipment (including satellite telephones) and necessary services.

'In addition, the London office served as a conduit for messages, including reports on military and security matters from various al Qaeda cells, including the Kenyan cell, to al Qaeda's headquarters,' the indictment says.

Bary 'made efforts to facilitate the delivery of fake travel documents to co-conspirators who were members or associates of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in Holland and Albania,' it continues.

A body is carried from the wreckage in Nairobi after the bombing, which was also plotted by Osama bin Laden

Under the latest plea deal, Bary, who was extradited from Britain to the U.S. in 2012 and is currently being held in a high-security jail in Manhattan, would face a maximum of 25 years in prison.

He would also qualify to receive credit for the more than 14 years he was held behind bars in Britain and be allowed to request to serve the remainder of his time in another country.

Prosecutors told the judge they agreed to the deal because Bary had no direct role in the killings. Meanwhile, defense attorney Andrew Patel said: 'I believe this is just decision.'

Bary had been scheduled to go on trial in November with Abu Anas al-Libi, who was once on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists.

Al-Libi was snatched off the streets of Tripoli last year and brought to New York to face terrorism charges in the embassy bombing case.

When asked after today's trial if Bary's decision to plead guilty was anything to do with 'his son Abdel-Majed's situation', his lawyer Andrew Patel declined comment.

Terrorist: Bary told the judge he had contacted the media to claim responsibility for the attacks in 1998 and later put reporters in touch with al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden (pictured) and Ayman al-Zawahiri

The younger Bary, 23, left his million-dollar home in Maida Vale, London, to fight with ISIS, which has run rampage through Syria and Iraq.

He showed his barbarism when he posted a grisly picture of himself holding a severed head to his Twitter account. He captioned it 'Chillin' with my other homie, or what's left of him.'

In another picture, captioned 'Fireworks', he stands in front of dozens of bags of plastic explosives.

Videos posted to YouTube show Bary, who used the names Lyricist Jinn and L Jinny, praising his father in rap, while other lyrics express his disgust with drugs and drink.

American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and British aid worker David Haines, were all beheaded by 'Jihadi John' in graphic footage that was released by ISIS online.

Last Saturday, a second British hostage, Alan Henning, was threatened by the terror group.