Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 7, 1994 TAG: 9403070047
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Several hundred pages of transcripts, reviewed by The Associated Press, give the clearest view yet of an alleged conspiracy that prosecutors say included the bombing. Fifteen men will stand trial in the conspiracy case in September.
Four men were convicted Friday in the World Trade Center bombing. They face up to life in prison without parole at their sentencing May 4.
The conversations were secretly recorded by Emad Salem, a government informant who's expected to be the prosecution's star witness in the coming trial. According to transcripts:
A plot to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak outside the Waldorf Astoria Hotel was thwarted when the FBI learned of the plans.
Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a 55-year-old blind Egyptian cleric who prosecutors say inspired and authorized the conspirators, told the men "to inflict damage to the American Army."
Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, the conspiracy's alleged mastermind, wanted to kill a man because he thought he was an FBI informant. That man, Abdo Mohammed Haggag, is expected to testify against the other defendants.
Siddig Ali suggested sniper attacks on Jewish leaders in Manhattan, including state Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who had pushed to have El Sayyid A. Nosair retried in the killing of extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane. Nosair was convicted of related weapons charges and is charged in the plot to bomb the United Nations.
When the defendants were arrested in the trade center case, Siddig Ali suggested to Salem that they could kill FBI agents in retaliation. He also said that if the defendants were sentenced to life in prison, "we'll hit them with missiles and we will take hostages."
William Kunstler, Siddig Ali's lawyer, said the defendants were manipulated by Salem.
"These guys are hopped-up guys, Islamic fundamentalists," Kunstler said Sunday. "They have wild thoughts, no questions about it. But wild thoughts are not a crime."
The defendants in the conspiracy case were arrested June 24 during a raid on a garage where some of the men were found mixing chemicals, allegedly for a bomb.
According to the transcripts, Siddig Ali told Salem he had visited Nosair in prison and asked him if there was anything "that you like to get done to serve your cause first" and whether he had any "personalities in your mind."
Siddig Ali said Nosair mentioned Kissinger as a good person to kidnap, according to the transcripts.
by CNB