somebozo
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Ramzi Yousef appears to be a classic case of identity confusion being fast bred in Pakistani society. He appeared to be well educated and westernized and it is hard to deduce that a person of such qualification would turn to savagery of terrorism. It is worth noting that he has justified his actions under various pretexts such as taking revenge of nuking Japan, seeking justice for the Palestinians, unprovoked hostility towards Israel and United Stated - not knowing that the unholy jihad of Afghanistan had direct contributions from Israel. There are visible signs of being in a state of constant emotional self-conflict and as per the court room hearing he finds peace by identifying himself as Palestinian. Identity crisis cannot get any worst than this!
Overview:
Ramzi Yousef (Arabic: رمزي يوسف‎, Ramzī Yūsuf; born May 20, 1967) was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a co-conspirator in the Bojinka plot. In 1995, he was arrested at a guest house in Islamabad, by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and United States Diplomatic Security Service,[3][4][5] then extradited to the United States.
He was tried in New York City in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and along with two co-conspirators was convicted of planning the Bojinka plot. Yousef stated: "Yes, I am a terrorist, and proud of it as long as it is against the U.S. government and against Israel, because you are more than terrorists; you are the one who invented terrorism and using it every day. You are butchers, liars and hypocrites."[6][7] He was sentenced to two life sentences for his part in the World Trade Center bombing and Bojinka plot.
Yousef's uncle is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a senior al-Qaeda member accused of being the principal architect of the September 11 attacks. He is also in United States custody.
Yousef was born in Kuwait to Pakistani family of labourers, who were originally from Baluchistan.[8] While the rest of the family returned to Pakistan in the mid 1980s, Yousef was sent to England to continue his education.
In 1986, he enrolled at Swansea Institute in Wales where he studied electrical engineering, graduating four years later.[9] He also studied at the Oxford College of Further Education to improve his English.
Yousef attended an Al-Qaeda training camp and became an expert in bomb making.
1993 World Trade Center bombing
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a car bomb was detonated below Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,500 lb (680 kg) urea nitrate-hydrogen gas enhanced device[11] was intended to knock the North Tower (Tower One) into the South Tower (Tower Two), to bring both towers down and kill thousands of people.[12] It failed to do so but did kill six people and injured 1,042.
Ramzi Yousef sent a letter to the New York Times after bombing the WTC which spelled out the motive: "We declare our responsibility for the explosion on the mentioned building. This action was done in response for the American political, economical, and military support to Israel, the state of terrorism, and to the rest of the dictator countries in the region." He later stated that he had hoped to kill 250,000 Americans to show them the exact pain they had caused to the Japanese in the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[13]
1993 Benazir Bhutto assassination attempt
After returning to Pakistan in February 1993 Yousef was in hiding after his unsuccessful attempt to destroy the World Trade Center. In the summer of 1993 Yousef allegedly took up a contract to assassinate the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, which was initiated by members of Sipah-e-Sahaba. The plot failed when Yousef and Abdul Hakim Murad were interrupted by police outside Bhuttos residence. At this point Yousef decided to abort the bombing and as they attempted to recover the device it blew up. Yousef went into hiding during the investigation.
1993 Iranian shrine bombing
After a failed attempt to bomb the Israeli embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Yousef moved back to Pakistan and plotted a bombing inside Iran. Yousef has a deep hatred of Shiite Muslims, and most Iranians are Shiites. On June 20, 1994, a Shiite holy day, Yousef bombed the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran, one of the holiest and most important Shiite shrines. The attack killed 26 people and injured over 200. The group Yousef worked with this time included his younger brother, Abdul Muneem, and his own father, who was arrested and detained in Iran. While Yousef generally worked in concert with - or by orders from - Osama bin Laden, the Mashhad bombing ran counter to bin Ladens efforts that year to work with the Iranian-influenced Hezbollah militant group. [17]
[edit]Bojinka Plot
Bojinka Plot
After the Iranian shrine bombing, Yousef soon began planning the unsuccessful Bojinka Plot. The plan involved assassinating Pope John Paul II while he visited the Philippines, then, with attention focused on the Pope's death, planting bombs placed inside toy cars on United Airlines and Delta Air Lines flights out of Bangkok.
Philippine Airlines Flight 434
On December 11, 1994, Yousef conducted a trial run of the plan by boarding a Philippine Airlines Boeing 747 designated as PAL434 from Manila to Tokyo, Japan, with a stopover in the Philippine city of Cebu. His identity for the flight was that of an Italian man named Armaldo Forlani. The cabin crew for this leg of the flight would later tell investigators that Yousef changed seats several times during the relatively short flight with his last seat change coming after a return from the lavatory.
1995 U.S. airliner bombing attempt
Despite the international manhunt for Yousef, he had managed to escape from Manila to Pakistan. On January 31, 1995, Yousef flew from Pakistan to Thailand and met with associate Istaique Parker. Yousef told Parker to check two suitcases filled with bombs, one on a Delta Air Lines flight and another on a United Airlines flight. Both bombs were timed to blow up over populated areas of the U.S. Parker spent much of the day at the airport, but was reportedly too scared to approach the airlines with the suitcases. Finally, Parker returned to Yousef's hotel and lied that employees at the airline cargo sections were asking for passports and fingerprints, making it too risky to go ahead with the plan.
Yousef, still wanting to get the bombs on a plane bound for the U.S., called a friend with diplomatic immunity in Qatar who was willing to take the suitcases to London and then fly them to the U.S., where they would explode mid-flight and destroy the plane. Yousef planned to use the friend's diplomatic immunity to ensure the suitcases would be loaded on the plane. According to Simon Reeve's book The New Jackals, the name of this friend has not been revealed, but his father is said to be a very senior politician and leading member of the establishment in Qatar (at the time, Yousef's uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was living in Qatar as the guest of a Qatari cabinet official). However, a problem developed and the planned planting of the suitcases could not be carried out. Yousef and Parker returned to Pakistan on February 2, 1995.(Reeve 1999 pp 98100[4])
Yousef was sent to a prison in New York City and held there until his trial. In court Yousef said, "Yes, I am a terrorist, and proud of it as long as it is against the U.S. government and against Israel, because you are more than terrorists; you are the one who invented terrorism and using it every day. You are butchers, liars and hypocrites." On September 5, 1996, Yousef and two co-conspirators were convicted for their role in the Bojinka plot and were sentenced to life in prison without parole. U.S. District Court Judge Kevin Duffy referred to Yousef as "an apostle of evil" before recommending that the entire sentence be served in solitary confinement.
According to interviews with ADX Florence staff Yousef prayed almost every hour and refused to leave his cell for recreation when he first arrived at the facility as he did not wish to undergo the required strip search. Ramzi made frequent, unsuccessful attempts to convert Timothy McVeigh to Islam when sharing the same cell in "Bomber's Row", the same cell block that also holds Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
Yousef now leaves his cell and claims to have converted to Christianity, though the prison staff do not believe Yousef's conversion is sincere.
Overview:
Ramzi Yousef (Arabic: رمزي يوسف‎, Ramzī Yūsuf; born May 20, 1967) was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a co-conspirator in the Bojinka plot. In 1995, he was arrested at a guest house in Islamabad, by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence and United States Diplomatic Security Service,[3][4][5] then extradited to the United States.
He was tried in New York City in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and along with two co-conspirators was convicted of planning the Bojinka plot. Yousef stated: "Yes, I am a terrorist, and proud of it as long as it is against the U.S. government and against Israel, because you are more than terrorists; you are the one who invented terrorism and using it every day. You are butchers, liars and hypocrites."[6][7] He was sentenced to two life sentences for his part in the World Trade Center bombing and Bojinka plot.
Yousef's uncle is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a senior al-Qaeda member accused of being the principal architect of the September 11 attacks. He is also in United States custody.
Yousef was born in Kuwait to Pakistani family of labourers, who were originally from Baluchistan.[8] While the rest of the family returned to Pakistan in the mid 1980s, Yousef was sent to England to continue his education.
In 1986, he enrolled at Swansea Institute in Wales where he studied electrical engineering, graduating four years later.[9] He also studied at the Oxford College of Further Education to improve his English.
Yousef attended an Al-Qaeda training camp and became an expert in bomb making.
1993 World Trade Center bombing
The 1993 World Trade Center bombing occurred on February 26, 1993, when a car bomb was detonated below Tower One of the World Trade Center in New York City. The 1,500 lb (680 kg) urea nitrate-hydrogen gas enhanced device[11] was intended to knock the North Tower (Tower One) into the South Tower (Tower Two), to bring both towers down and kill thousands of people.[12] It failed to do so but did kill six people and injured 1,042.
Ramzi Yousef sent a letter to the New York Times after bombing the WTC which spelled out the motive: "We declare our responsibility for the explosion on the mentioned building. This action was done in response for the American political, economical, and military support to Israel, the state of terrorism, and to the rest of the dictator countries in the region." He later stated that he had hoped to kill 250,000 Americans to show them the exact pain they had caused to the Japanese in the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[13]
1993 Benazir Bhutto assassination attempt
After returning to Pakistan in February 1993 Yousef was in hiding after his unsuccessful attempt to destroy the World Trade Center. In the summer of 1993 Yousef allegedly took up a contract to assassinate the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, which was initiated by members of Sipah-e-Sahaba. The plot failed when Yousef and Abdul Hakim Murad were interrupted by police outside Bhuttos residence. At this point Yousef decided to abort the bombing and as they attempted to recover the device it blew up. Yousef went into hiding during the investigation.
1993 Iranian shrine bombing
After a failed attempt to bomb the Israeli embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, Yousef moved back to Pakistan and plotted a bombing inside Iran. Yousef has a deep hatred of Shiite Muslims, and most Iranians are Shiites. On June 20, 1994, a Shiite holy day, Yousef bombed the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran, one of the holiest and most important Shiite shrines. The attack killed 26 people and injured over 200. The group Yousef worked with this time included his younger brother, Abdul Muneem, and his own father, who was arrested and detained in Iran. While Yousef generally worked in concert with - or by orders from - Osama bin Laden, the Mashhad bombing ran counter to bin Ladens efforts that year to work with the Iranian-influenced Hezbollah militant group. [17]
[edit]Bojinka Plot
Bojinka Plot
After the Iranian shrine bombing, Yousef soon began planning the unsuccessful Bojinka Plot. The plan involved assassinating Pope John Paul II while he visited the Philippines, then, with attention focused on the Pope's death, planting bombs placed inside toy cars on United Airlines and Delta Air Lines flights out of Bangkok.
Philippine Airlines Flight 434
On December 11, 1994, Yousef conducted a trial run of the plan by boarding a Philippine Airlines Boeing 747 designated as PAL434 from Manila to Tokyo, Japan, with a stopover in the Philippine city of Cebu. His identity for the flight was that of an Italian man named Armaldo Forlani. The cabin crew for this leg of the flight would later tell investigators that Yousef changed seats several times during the relatively short flight with his last seat change coming after a return from the lavatory.
1995 U.S. airliner bombing attempt
Despite the international manhunt for Yousef, he had managed to escape from Manila to Pakistan. On January 31, 1995, Yousef flew from Pakistan to Thailand and met with associate Istaique Parker. Yousef told Parker to check two suitcases filled with bombs, one on a Delta Air Lines flight and another on a United Airlines flight. Both bombs were timed to blow up over populated areas of the U.S. Parker spent much of the day at the airport, but was reportedly too scared to approach the airlines with the suitcases. Finally, Parker returned to Yousef's hotel and lied that employees at the airline cargo sections were asking for passports and fingerprints, making it too risky to go ahead with the plan.
Yousef, still wanting to get the bombs on a plane bound for the U.S., called a friend with diplomatic immunity in Qatar who was willing to take the suitcases to London and then fly them to the U.S., where they would explode mid-flight and destroy the plane. Yousef planned to use the friend's diplomatic immunity to ensure the suitcases would be loaded on the plane. According to Simon Reeve's book The New Jackals, the name of this friend has not been revealed, but his father is said to be a very senior politician and leading member of the establishment in Qatar (at the time, Yousef's uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was living in Qatar as the guest of a Qatari cabinet official). However, a problem developed and the planned planting of the suitcases could not be carried out. Yousef and Parker returned to Pakistan on February 2, 1995.(Reeve 1999 pp 98100[4])
Yousef was sent to a prison in New York City and held there until his trial. In court Yousef said, "Yes, I am a terrorist, and proud of it as long as it is against the U.S. government and against Israel, because you are more than terrorists; you are the one who invented terrorism and using it every day. You are butchers, liars and hypocrites." On September 5, 1996, Yousef and two co-conspirators were convicted for their role in the Bojinka plot and were sentenced to life in prison without parole. U.S. District Court Judge Kevin Duffy referred to Yousef as "an apostle of evil" before recommending that the entire sentence be served in solitary confinement.
According to interviews with ADX Florence staff Yousef prayed almost every hour and refused to leave his cell for recreation when he first arrived at the facility as he did not wish to undergo the required strip search. Ramzi made frequent, unsuccessful attempts to convert Timothy McVeigh to Islam when sharing the same cell in "Bomber's Row", the same cell block that also holds Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
Yousef now leaves his cell and claims to have converted to Christianity, though the prison staff do not believe Yousef's conversion is sincere.
