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- “Zohran Mamdani Faces Backlash For Smiling Photo With Imam Siraj Wahhaj Linked To 1993 WTC Bombing”
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Mamdani, the Democratic contender for the post of Mayor, had gone to a mosque to campaign on Friday. There he had a photograph taken with Imam Wahaj.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in America has been accused by President Donald Trump of being close to an Islamic fundamentalist.
In fact, on October 18, Mamdani was seen laughing and posing for photographs with Imam Siraj Wahaj of Brooklyn. Wahaj is accused of conspiring to carry out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and inciting Muslims for jihad.
After the picture went viral, Trump wrote on social media-
This disaster is happening. What a shame that a person like Siraj Wahaj is supporting Mamdani and maintaining friendship with him. This is what blew up the World Trade Center.
Mamdani himself had posted the photo of his meeting with Imam Wahaj on October 18.
Vice President JD Vance also took a dig
US Vice President JD Vance has also criticized Mamdani. He wrote on X- I have come to know that the people of the Democratic Party are against any kind of political violence. So now I am waiting to see when everyone comes together to condemn Mamdani. He is campaigning with a man believed to be linked to a terror plot, even though he has not been prosecuted.
Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa said, “Mamdani is wrong to stand with this imam. New York needs a mayor who will protect people from terrorism, not embrace terrorists.”
Despite the criticism, Mamdani alleged that he was being targeted because of his religion. He said that he is on the verge of winning the elections. The New York mayoral election is to be held on November 4, 2025.
Wahaj converted to Islam
Wahaj’s real name is James Lawrence. He changed religion in the 70s in protest against the discrimination against black people. After converting to Islam, Lawrence changed his name to Siraj Wahaj.
Wahaj started social work for mosques and the Muslim community in New York after his conversion. Wahaj gave a sermon in New York City in the early 2000s, in which he called for the creation of an army of 10,000 Muslim men for “gun-free jihad”.
He had said,
I pray that Allah gives us the opportunity to form an army, my followers do not take up arms, just march. March in New York City, so that their voices are heard, so that the whole city cannot sleep.
Wahaj said that his jihad was not violent but it was in support of Muslims who were struggling in countries like Bosnia, Somalia, Palestine and Algeria.
Wahaj’s name came into limelight in the 1993 World Trade Center attack case. Actually, many accused related to this case were associated with Wahaj.
The first terrorist attack took place in America 32 years ago
Even 8 years before the World Trade Center attack in 2001, there was a major terrorist attack there. On February 26, 1993, at around 12:18 pm, a truck bomb exploded in the parking lot of the North Tower.
The truck was filled with about 1,200 kg of explosives. The aim of the attackers was that the North Tower would collapse due to the explosion and the South Tower below it would also collapse. If this had happened, both the towers would have collapsed together, but this did not happen.
The force of the explosion was so much that a 30 meter wide and several storey high crater was formed in the parking lot. Due to power outage, lifts stopped and thousands of people trapped in the towers started suffocating in the smoke. However, within a short time about 50 thousand people were evacuated. Six people died and more than a thousand were injured in this attack.
Al Qaeda had hatched a conspiracy, caught in Pakistan
This attack was planned by al-Qaeda associated terrorist Ramzi Yusuf. He was joined by people like Mohammed Salameh, Mahmoud Abuhalima, Nidal Ayyad and Ahmed Ajaz. Yusuf prepared the explosives for the attack and made a complete plan to deliver it to the World Trade Center.
During the investigation, the FBI found the serial number of the vehicle hidden in the demolished pieces of the truck, which led the police to the attackers. Within a few weeks all the accused were arrested. Ramzi Yusuf was caught from Pakistan in 1995 and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1998.
This 1993 attack was al-Qaeda’s first major attack against America. Due to this, American security agencies realized for the first time that terrorism has now reached their soil. However, at that time this threat was not taken as seriously as it needed to be.
Many experts believe that if the security system had been strengthened after the 1993 attacks, the September 11, 2001 attacks might have been prevented. After the 1993 attacks, a memorial was erected in the basement of the World Trade Center that read, “This is the place where terrorism first touched America.”
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