12 MUSLIMS HAD PLANNED `DAY OF TERROR,' U.S. SAYS

Twelve Muslims seeking to force the United States to change its Middle East policy planned to unleash a "day of terror" that included blowing up bridges, tunnels and the United Nations, prosecutors said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a case about war," Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Khuzami told jurors Monday as the biggest terrorism trial in American history got under way with opening statements."They had talk and battle plans that will make you shudder," Khuzami said.

Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman and 11 of his disciples are accused of plotting to blow up the United Nations, the FBI, and bridges and tunnels in a single "day of terror the likes of which the world has never seen," Khuzami said.

The defendants also allegedly plotted to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and kidnap former President Nixon and Henry Kissinger. They face life in prison if convicted.

Abdel-Rahman, who is blind, chuckled as the government outlined its case for the jury.

His attorney, Lynne Stewart, said the 56-year-old Islamic fundamentalist may have disagreed with U.S. policies but never conspired to harm the country. She said he came to America in 1990 to escape persecution in Egypt, where he was arrested and treated brutally for his outspokenness.

"Dr. Abdel-Rahman came here to preach, to have a pulpit, to speak freely and practice his religion without ending up in jail. And guess what? He ended up in jail," Stewart said.

Prosecutors said the day of mass bloodshed was intended to punish the United States for its support of Israel and Egypt. The defendants allegedly had begun mixing the deadly brew for the bombs when they were caught in June 1993.

"These defendants were planning a war of urban terrorism against the United States," Khuzami said.