Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman / Umar Abd al-Rahman / the ‘Blind Sheikh’ was convicted in 1996 with several others for conspiring to bomb a number of New York City landmarks. He was the center of a terrorist cell in New York during the early 1990s that awoke America to the dangers of Islamic terrorism within their borders.

Rahman was born in Egypt in 1938 and lost his eyesight to childhood diabetes at a very young age. He was driven to study a Braille version of the Qur'an as a child and soon developed an interest in the works of Islam purists Ibn Taymiyah and Sayyid Qutb. After graduating in Qur'anic studies from a university in Cairo, Rahman became a prominent and at times outspoken Muslim cleric who denounced Egypt’s secularism.

During the 1970s he developed close ties with two of Egypt’s most dangerous terrorist organizations, Egyptian Islamic Jihad and Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. By the 1980s he had emerged as the leader of Al Gamma’a Islamiya, although he was still revered by followers of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which at the time was being lead by future Al Qaeda principal Ayman al-Zawahiri. Rahman spent three brutal stints in Egyptian jails for endorsing the deaths of General Nasser and President Anwar Sadat, the latter of whom was assassinated by members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1982.

Rahman made his way to Afghanistan in the mid-1980s where he connected with his former university lecturer Abdullah Azzam, co-founder of Maktab al-Khadamat (MAK) along with Osama bin Laden. It is reported that Rahman built a strong rapport with bin Laden during the Soviet-Afghanistan war and following Azzam’s murder in 1989 assumed control of the international jihadists arm of MAK/Al Qaeda. In July 1990, he was sent to New York City to gain control of MAK’S financial and organisational infrastructure in the United States. Rahman was reportedly issued a visa by CIA agents in Sudan in appreciation for his assistance in defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan, despite being on a US State Department terrorist watch list.

The Move To America

Preaching at three mosques in the New York area, Rahman was immediately surrounded by a core group of devoted followers that included persons responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. There is little doubt in the minds of many analysts that Rahman was responsible for inciting numerous acts of violence in the New York area; including the murder of radical Jewish politician Meir Kahane, the murder of MAK’S New York manager Mustafa Shalabi, the first WTC bombing and the plots of bomb Jewish buildings in Manhattan and various New York city landmarks including the UN Headquarters.

After the first World Trading Centre bombing in 1993, the FBI began to investigate Rahman and his followers more closely. With the assistance of an informant wearing a listening device, the FBI managed to record Rahman issuing a fatwa to bomb US military targets. As the investigation progressed into the second half of 1993, evidence indicating that Rahman was at the centre of a terrorist cell responsible for numerous acts of violence began to mount. He was subsequently arrested along with nine of his followers. In 1996 he was convicted for his role in a plot to blow up several New York City landmarks and was sentenced to life in prison.

A Continuing Influence

Rahman’s imprisonment has become a rallying point for Islamic militants around the world, including Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. In 1997 members of his terror group Al Gamma’a Islamiya conducted two attacks against European tourists in Egypt, including the massacre of fifty-eight Swiss and Germans at Luxor. In addition to killing women and children, the attackers mutilated a number of bodies and distributed leaflets throughout the scene calling for Rahman’s release.

Recently, members of Rahman’s legal team were convicted for facilitating communication between the imprisoned Sheikh and members of Al Gamma’a Islamiya.

References

• Gunaratna, R. 2002 ‘Inside Al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror’. Scribe Publications: Carlton.
• Lance, P. 2003 ‘1000 Years For Revenge: International Terrorism and The FBI’. HarperCollins: New York

External links

• Civil rights attorney convicted in terror trial CNN.Com
• Bin Laden’s 1996 Fatwa PBS.Org
• The CIA and the Sheik Village Voice article
• Blowback The Atlantic Article