N.Y. Bomber, Plotter Seek Friends Via Web

Two men serving lengthy federal prison terms for their roles in the World Trade Center bombing and a plot to blow up the United Nations are seeking love and friendship on the Internet.

Mahmud Abouhalima, 39, an Egyptian immigrant sentenced to 240 years in federal prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, is seeking “friendship, legal assistance, mail from anyone,” he wrote on his Love-Penn.com Web page.

Fadil Abdelgani, 36, a Sudanese who shared a cell with Abouhalima until recently at Lompoc, Calif., described himself as “a political prisoner . . . wrongly accused and convicted.”

Abdelgani was convicted with Egyptian Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and nine others and sentenced to 25 years for his role in the plot to blow up the United Nations and other New York City landmarks.

His Web page said he is “interested in meeting people from and around the world . . . sharing thoughts, ideas and views.” He is also searching for a female pen pal to “share a few kind words.”

Abouhalima, currently at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City, described himself as 200 pounds, 6 feet 2 inches tall, with red hair and brown eyes. He said he is a Muslim fluent in Arabic and German.

“But I tell you one thing,” he wrote. “I am innocent of bombing the World Trade Center.” The bombing killed six people and injured more than 1,000.

The Web pages were set up by Love-Penn, a New York ad agency, for prison inmates.

“Federal inmates do not have access to the Internet,” a Bureau of Prisons spokesman said. “But should a friend . . . post a communication from them, there’s not much the bureau can do.”