Bombings Target Key Arabic Paper
- By Beth Harpaz
- Jan. 15 1997 00:00
On Monday, a letter bomb exploded at Al-Hayat's London headquarters injuring two people, and four letter bombs sent to the Al-Hayat bureau were found at the UN headquarters.
U.S. officials are investigating whether the bombs were mailed by supporters of Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian Moslem cleric convicted in a U.S. court in 1995 of conspiracy in the World Trade Center bombing.
M.T. Mehdi, head of the American-Arab Relations Committee, said Al-Hayat "is so apolitical it is almost blah. It doesn't take strong stands in favor of someone or against someone, except for the general Arab issues such as the rights of Palestinians."
Because of its prominence, Al-Hayat is often contacted by extremists claiming responsibility for attacks.