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World Trade Center bombing testimony ends
November 5, 1997
Web posted at: 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT)NEW YORK (CNN) -- After hearing more than three months of testimony, jurors in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case were set to deliberate the fate of the alleged mastermind, 29-year-old Ramzi Yousef.
Yousef and his accomplice felt they were above the law and bombed the towering landmark to make America feel terror, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin made his remarks at the conclusion of closing arguments in the trial of Yousef and Eyad Ismoil, 26, who is accused of driving the van used in the bombing.
The February 26, 1993 explosion killed six people and injured more than 1,000.
A federal agent testified that Yousef had boasted about plotting the bombing during his extradition flight to New York.
The agent said Yousef expressed regret that more people had not died and said he had hoped the bomb would cause one of the two World Trade Center towers to fall on its twin, killing at least 250,000 Americans.
On Tuesday, Yousef's lawyer Roy Kulcsar closed defense arguments by questioning the credibility of FBI agents, saying that, at Yousef's request, they did not take notes during the interview. Instead they later relied on their memories to write down the conversation.
Yousef boarded a plane to Pakistan on the eve of the bombing and Ismoil boarded a plane that night to Jordan.
Two years later, in February 1995, Yousef was tracked down in Pakistan and was extradited.
Ismoil was discovered in Jordan and was extradited in August 1995.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Bombing suspect 'no mental giant,' his lawyer says - November 4, 1997
- World Trade Center suspect called bombing ringleader - November 3, 1997
- Prosecutor: Yousef aimed to topple Trade Center towers - August 5, 1997
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