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Rep. Peter King Blasts 'Weasely' Words of State Dept. on Blind Sheikh After Renewed Calls for Release
Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind spiritual leader of Egypt's largest Islamic extremist fundamentalist group Jamaa Islamiyya gives a press conference 01 November 1988 in Cairo in support of 'Islamic Revolution' by the Palestinians against Israelis in the Occupied Territories. Rahman was born on 03 May 1938 into a poor peasant family in Gamaliya in the Nile Delta. He lost his sight at the age of 10, but still achieved a doctorate in theology at the prestigious Islamic university of Al-Azhar in Cairo, Sunni Moslem's highest authority. In 1971, Rahman became a teacher of the Koran at the University of Asyut, where he co-founded Jamaa Islamiyya (Islamic Group) with colleagues Karam Zohdi and Nagueh Ibrahim in 1977. He is now serving a life sentence in Springfield, Missouri, for his role in terrorist attacks, including blowing up the World Trade Center in New York in February 1993 and an assassination bid against Egyptian President Mubarak. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

Rep. Peter King Blasts 'Weasely' Words of State Dept. on Blind Sheikh After Renewed Calls for Release

• Tell Morsi the Sheikh will "die in an American prison." • Flashback: Source Claims Obama Admin Considering Release of Blind Sheikh • Bonus: Read all of TheBlaze's coverage of the Blind Sheikh --

Last week TheBlaze reported that, in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi said he wants President Barack Obama to release Omar Abdel-Rahman, better known as the “Blind Sheikh.” This is of course no small request considering the the Egyptian cleric is currently in U.S. custody after being convicted of masterminding the original 1993 World Trade Center bombing as well as other terrorist attacks.

Responding to the pressure being brought to bear by the Muslim Brotherhood leader, ever-outspoken Rep. Peter King offered a piece of advice to the president while on Fox News this weekend: Tell Morsi that the Blind Sheikh is not going anywhere and will "die in an American prison."

The congressman added that "we won't impress anyone in the Middle East by equivocating on the Blind Sheikh," and insisted that the administration adopt stronger language than it has in the past concerning the terrorist-icon. King of course was referring to the State Department's saying it had "no plans" to release the cleric. The controversial Republican insinuated that such language does not "rule out" a release-date in the future and said he found the words to be "loyalite" and "weasely."

There has been talk that Morsi is slated for a White House visit before March -- and King believes Obama should make it clear to the Brotherhood leader beforehand that, in no uncertain terms, we will not release the "terrorist and murderer."

Morsi claims he wants Abdel-Rahman returned to Egypt based on his alleged poor heath, but is well-aware that a U.S. granted release would have more than a simply humanitarian connotation to the Arab Street as the Blind Sheikh is a cultural icon among jihadists.

“I want him to be free,” Morsi said, “but I respect the law and the rule of law in Egypt and the Untied States. What I am talking about isn’t a violation…There could be things like visitation, assistance, his children, his family, assisting him.  He is an old sheikh and sick and blind.”

In addition to the seven killed and more than a thousand injured in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, through his jihadist-affiliates Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Blind Sheikh is responsible for the slaughter of 58 tourists -- including women and children -- at Deir el-Bahri in Luxor.

Obama issuing an unequivocal and resounding "no" to those bent on the Blind Sheikh's release could signal to the Islamic world that there are unforgiving and dire consequences for massacring innocent civilians.

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