THE Egyptian Muslim cleric, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, was sentenced yesterday in New York to life imprisonment for his role in plotting a terrorist campaign - against US targets and against President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
Rahman (57) was convicted on October 1st, 1995 along with nine other conspirators who were yesterday given jail sentences ranging from 25 to 40 years.
Four of the defendants pleaded for clemency, saying they were duped into participating in the scheme.
However, Judge Michael Mukasey said there was "ample" evidence to support their convictions and called them participants in an "enterprise to commit murder and mayhem on a vast scale".
Rahman was accused of encouraging acts of violence to punish the US for supporting Israel.
The first sentenced was Victor Alvarez (29) who was given 35 years in prison. He was portrayed him as mentally retarded and it was suggested he became a Muslim after watching a television programme about the religion. He was convicted of helping to build bombs and providing the plotters with an Uzi machine gun.
Judge Mukasey, imposing the sentence, said: "People who are killed by people with limited capacity are just as dead as people who are killed by a genius."
Others sentenced yesterday morning were: Mohammed Saleh, 35 years; Fadil Abdelghani, 25 years; Tarig Elhassan, 35 years; Fares Khallafalla, 30 years; and Amir Abdelgani, 30 years.
Each of the defendants was convicted of a Civil War era crime called seditious conspiracy. Their convictions related to the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000.