(reuters_tickers)
By Bill Trott
(Reuters) – Omar Abdel-Rahman, the Muslim cleric known as “the blind sheikh” who was convicted of conspiracy in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and of planning a broader “war of urban terrorism” in the United States, died on Saturday in a North Carolina prison, authorities said.
Abdel-Rahman, 78, died of natural causes at 9:40 a.m. (1440 GMT) at a medical centre at a federal prison compound in Butner, North Carolina, according to Greg Norton, a spokesman.
The cleric, who had diabetes and coronary artery disease, had been incarcerated at the complex for nearly 10 years, Norton said.
Earlier, the cleric’s son Ammar said his family had received a phone call in Eygpt from a U.S. representative saying his father had died.
The Egyptian-born Abdel-Rahman remained a spiritual leader for radical Muslims even after more than 20 years in prison.
With his long grey beard, sunglasses and red and white clerical cap, the charismatic Abdel-Rahman was the face of radical Islam in the 1980s and 1990s. He preached a fiery brand of Islam that called for the death of people and governments he disapproved of and the installation of an Islamic government in Egypt. His following was tied to fundamentalist killings and bomb attacks around the world.
READ MORE HERE:
(Additional reporting by Mohamed Abdellah in Cairo and John Walcott in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty and W Simon)
Categories: America, Americas, The Muslim Times, United States
I am a great expert in crime. I know all about Agatha Christie and Poirot. I watched many crime stories on TV. One thing is clear: Serial killers always have a ‘pattern’. Now look at Al Qaeeda’s pattern: This World Trade Center bombing. (ineffective). A couple of tiny rockets on a US Navy ship in Yemen. The stupid bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, killing innocent locals and hardly any Americans. And some people think that the same guys could have done 9/11? (joke of the day).