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Egyptian cleric behind 1993 World Trade Center bombing dies in prison

Omar Abdel-Rahman was 78 years old
Posted at 10:37 AM, Feb 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-18 14:26:20-05

(CNN) -- Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian-born cleric serving a life sentence for plotting the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center and other terror attacks in New York, has died, a prison spokesman said Saturday.

Abdel-Rahman died Saturday morning from natural causes at age 78, said Greg Norton, spokesman with the federal correctional complex in Butner, North Carolina. He had battled diabetes and coronary heart disease, Norton said. Abdel-Rahman was convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison.