Matchbook
- Description
- Green matchbook depicting Ramzi Ahmed Yousef on the front with his name printed next to his photograph. The Arabic word for "reward" is printed below the image. Inside the matchbook is Arabic text offering a reward for information about the suspect.
- Historical Notes
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The U.S. government launched a worldwide manhunt for Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, offering $2 million for information leading to his capture.
The U.S. Department of State created matchbooks bearing Ramzi Yousef’s photograph and offering a reward for information leading to his arrest. They distributed the matchbooks worldwide. In 1995, information obtained in the search of Yousef’s apartment in Manila, Philippines, led to Pakistani and American law enforcement officers apprehending Yousef in Islamabad, Pakistan. He was extradited to the United States to stand trial.
Curator's Comment
The terrorists who carried out the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center did not perpetrate the attacks of September 11, 2001. Both plots were, however, implemented by people active in networks that shared a radical ideology aimed at overthrowing governments in the Middle East and punishing the United States for supporting them.
Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, traveled to the United States to bomb a high-profile American target. His objective was to force the U.S. government to withdraw support for Israel. A native of Kuwait, Yousef had previously attended a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, where he learned to make bombs from commercially available chemicals. After weeks of surveillance, Yousef selected the World Trade Center, calculating that a well-placed bomb hidden in a vehicle could bring down its iconic towers.
In 1997, Ramzi Yousef was tried and convicted in federal court for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Given an opportunity to address the court, Yousef declared: “Yes, I am a terrorist, and I am proud of it. And I support terrorism so long as it was against the United States government and against Israel.” Judge Kevin T. Duffy sentenced Yousef to life in prison plus 240 years, factoring in the combined life expectancies of the six people killed in the 1993 bombing.
Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, traveled to the United States to bomb a high-profile American target. His objective was to force the U.S. government to withdraw support for Israel. A native of Kuwait, Yousef had previously attended a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, where he learned to make bombs from commercially available chemicals. After weeks of surveillance, Yousef selected the World Trade Center, calculating that a well-placed bomb hidden in a vehicle could bring down its iconic towers.
In 1997, Ramzi Yousef was tried and convicted in federal court for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Given an opportunity to address the court, Yousef declared: “Yes, I am a terrorist, and I am proud of it. And I support terrorism so long as it was against the United States government and against Israel.” Judge Kevin T. Duffy sentenced Yousef to life in prison plus 240 years, factoring in the combined life expectancies of the six people killed in the 1993 bombing.
- Accession Number: C.2011.207.2
- Dimensions: 1.875 in X 2 in X 0.312 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 4.7625 cm X 5.08 cm X 0.79248 cm
- Source: Myke Taister
- Credit Line: Gift of Myke Taister, FBI Forensic Artist
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