Omar Abdel-Rahman, the 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 of natural causes on Saturday in a North Carolina prison after ten years of incarceration, authorities said. Abdel-Rahman, who suffered from diabetes and coronary artery disease, had been blind throughout his life.
“Abdel-Rahman was at the vortex of some of the bloodiest and most consequential terrorist incidents of the 1990s – incidents that would establish the patterns of global terrorism that continue to bedevil us today,” said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert who served on the U.S. government’s commission that reviewed the 9/11 attacks of New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. Hoffman added, “he was a tireless and enthusiastic in projecting his message of violence and hatred.” Osama bin Laden has openly cited Rahman as an “inspiration” for his crimes against the United States, including 9/11.
What can we say? Another hate-monger bites the dust.
