NEW YORK, January 9: Ramzi Yousef, a Pakistani convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center blast and plotting to blow up airliners, was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without parole.In sentencing Yousef to a total of 240 years behind bars, US District Judge Kevin Duffy said he would request that Yousef be held in solitary confinement with visiting rights restricted to his lawyers.
At the hearing Duffy blasted Yousef, saying he was "a follower of death and destruction".
"It was your god, your master, your only devotion," he said.
"Yes, I am a terrorist and am proud of it," said Yousef. "I support terrorism. You are more than terrorists. You are butchers, liars and hypocrites," he added.
Saying that someone might be "perverse enough to buy your story," Duffy also fined Yousef $ 4.5 million and ordered him to pay $ 250 million in damages to ensure that any gain from possible film or book rights would go to his victims.
Six people were killed and some 1,000 injured on February 26,1993 when a massive truck bomb exploded in the World Trade Center's garage, rocking its twin towers.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
