USA: RAMZI YOUSEF FOUND GUILTY OF PLOTTING TO BLOW UP 12 AIRCRAFT

(5 Sep 1996) English/Nat

Ramzi Yousef and co-conspirators Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah have been convicted of plotting to blow up at least a dozen US aircraft in Asia.

They were found guilty of all charges in a nine-count federal indictment.

The defendants face mandatory life sentences. In addition, Yousef faces a later trial for the 1993 Trade Center bombing.

Prosecutors say the plan to blow up the U.S. airliners was hatched in the Philippines, where Yousef turned his Manila apartment into a makeshift bomb factory.

The scheme was never executed, but a passenger on a Philippine Airlines flight to Japan was killed in a December 1994 bombing that prosecutors called a test run.

These six men were accused of the 1993 World Trade centre bombing when they appeared in court in the Philippines in April 1995.

The suspects were accused of being affiliated with Ramzi Yousef on trial in New York for the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing. (No names given so don't know if any of these six have been found guilty.)

At least one of the accused maintains his innocence.

SOUNDBITE:
They framed us up because it is a politically motivated case, some ranking officials they want to gain publicity behind...above our shoulders, because they know we are totally innocent people, we are innocent people, we are not guilty, so we are easy victims for them."
SUPERCAPTION: Hadi Yousef Hassan Alghoul - accused

Yousef is yet to stand trial for the 1993 Trade Center bombing.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...