Accused Bomber Now Aiding U.S., Prosecutors Say
Prosecutors confirmed Monday that a man they once condemned as the architect of plots to bomb the United Nations and assassinate Egypt’s president is now cooperating with the government.
The agreement with Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali was confirmed in a letter sent to U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey, who is presiding over the upcoming trial of Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman and 11 other men described as his followers.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
The defendants are accused of a wide plot against the United States, which included plans to bomb U.N. headquarters, a building housing FBI offices, and two tunnels and a bridge in New York.
Prosecutors say the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, in which six people were killed, also was part of the conspiracy. Four men were sentenced to life for the bombing.
Siddig Ali’s defection could torpedo plans by some defense lawyers in the case to claim entrapment by the government’s informant, Emad Ali Salem.
Lawyers for Siddig Ali said during the weekend they learned their client had released them in a letter delivered by the prosecutor’s office.
Now prosecutors will have an insider to tell whether the men were preparing for terrorist acts before Salem joined their circle.
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