Convictions Upheld in Bomb Plot Case

A federal appeals court in New York City upheld the convictions of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine of his followers. The court ruled that the radical Islamic cleric who inspired his followers to try to blow up some of New York landmarks and assassinate Egypt’s president was fairly prosecuted under a rarely used charge from colonial days. The blind cleric was prosecuted because he sought to “solicit or persuade others to commit crimes of violence,” the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals said. The cleric, 61, was sentenced in 1995 to life in prison without parole. Also sentenced to life was El Sayyid Nosair,convicted in connection with the 1990 assassination of Jewish Defense League founder Rabbi Meir Kahane.