Rahman, Omar Abdel (1939–)

Blind cleric Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, said to be an icon of Islamic terrorists, is serving a life sentence in the United States for inciting and masterminding the terror ring that carried out the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. Investigators in the bombing case charged that Rahman preached anti-Western sermons, calling the United States “the greatest enemy of Islam,” that incited his followers and offered guidance as the bombers chose their targets. U.S. officials have said that Rahman is continuing to plot and inspire acts of terror while behind bars.

Born in Egypt, Rahman was the spiritual leader of the Gama'a al-Islamiyya, Egypt's largest terrorist organization. The Gama'a seeks to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic theocracy. As Gama'a grew, Rahman himself became an internationally known symbol of opposition to the Egyptian secular authorities. When Egypt severely cracked down on militant groups, Rahman fled in 1990 to live in exile in Brooklyn, New York.

According to U.S. officials, Rahman's U.S. terror cell was active since at least the early 1990s. The group allegedly planned to implement Islamic terrorism by attacking civilians, government officials, and landmarks. In 1990, a gunman shot and killed Jewish extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York. El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian man linked to Rahman, was arrested and tried for the murder. Nosair was convicted of gun charges related to the murder but acquitted of the actual crime. According to press reports, when federal agents raided Nosair's New Jersey apartment after his arrest, they found many incriminating items, including a Rahman sermon that urged his followers to attack “the edifices of capitalism.”

A likely interpretation of this phrase became immediately clear after the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City. The blast killed six people, injured a thousand more, and caused millions of dollars in damage. At least three of the suspects in the bombing worshipped at Rahman's mosque in Jersey City, New Jersey. In the trial following the bombing, Rahman was convicted of preparing what prosecutors called a “war of urban terrorism” in New York City. Under the rarely used Civil War-era seditious conspiracy law, prosecutors proved that the cleric had conspired “to overthrow, or put down, or destroy by force the Government of the United States.” The indictment tied together a three-year series of terrorist incidents, including a purported plan to blow up the George Washington Bridge, the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels, the United Nations building, and other Manhattan landmarks. The landmarks bombs, according to prosecutors, would have hit the targets all on one day, just minutes apart. Rahman was also linked to the Kahane murder and convicted of trying to orchestrate the assassination of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. He was jailed for life.

Even in prison, Rahman is said to wield a considerable influence, inspiring acts of terror, many of which have aimed to secure his release. Early during his time in prison, the Los Angeles Times reports, he called upon his followers to “avenge” him. In 1997, the Gama'a did [Page 306]just that, making its most infamous attack. At a tourist site near the Valley of the Kings at Luxor, gunmen disguised as police officers opened fire into a crowd. Fifty-eight foreign tourists and four Egyptians were killed. When group members called to take responsibility for the attack, they said that they had only intended to take hostages in an attempt to secure Rahman's release. Witnesses, however, saw no attempt to take hostages.

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