New York bomb plot mastermind Omar Abdel Rahman dies in prison

The mastermind of numerous bomb plots in New York in
 the early 1990s has died in prison in the US, his family says.

Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a blind cleric who preached at
mosques in New York, was sentenced to life in 1996 for planning the attacks.

He plotted to attack multiple landmarks in New York with 
the aim of stopping US support for Israel and Egypt.

He was accused of inspiring the 1993 bombing of the World
Trade Center, but was not convicted over that attack.

The judge at his trial said that if his plans had been 
enacted, thousands of people would have died.

Sheikh Rahman's death was announced in the Egyptian capital Cairo by his family.

Often referred to in the US as the Blind Sheikh, Rahman 
was also suspected of roles in numerous other violent 
attacks in Egypt in addition to developing close links with 
al-Qaeda.

Rahman and nine others were convicted of planning a "war 
of urban terrorism" in the US which would have culminated
 in five bombings of prominent New York landmarks
 including the George Washington Bridge and the Lincoln
 and Holland Tunnels.

The prosecution maintained that the 1993 bombing of 
the World Trade Center was also part of the conspiracy, 
but neither Rahman nor his co-defendants were formally accused of any role in that attack.

Six people died in the 1993 attack.