A New York civil rights lawyer vowed to appeal after being convicted last week of aiding terrorism by helping her imprisoned client, a radical Egyptian sheikh, pass messages to his followers in breach of prison restrictions. Lynne Stewart (above) was found guilty of conspiracy, providing material support to terrorists, making false statements and defrauding the US government. Ms Stewart's client, the blind Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1996 for conspiring to assassinate Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and blow up New York landmarks.