Blind cleric serving life sentence dies in federal prison

BUTNER, N.C. – A federal prison official says a blind Egyptian cleric serving a life sentence in the United States in connection with a failed plot to blow up landmarks in New York City has died.

Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman died early Saturday. Abdel-Rahman was sentenced to life in prison after his 1995 conviction for his advisory role in a plot to blow up landmarks, including the United Nations, and several bridges and tunnels.

Kenneth McKoy of the Federal Correction Complex in Butner, North Carolina, said Rahman died at 5:40 a.m. after a long battle with diabetes and coronary artery disease.

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