Blind Sheik's Illness Brings Terror Alert

(CBS/AP)  The health of terrorist cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the Blind Sheik, is deteriorating — renewing fears that his death in prison could trigger an attack on the United States, officials said Thursday.

Sources tell CBS News that the bulletin is simply a reminder that Rahman has made that type of "general threat" in the past. There is no intelligence suggesting any attack is planned.

One security official told CBS News that this bulletin is the equivalent of saying "there are bad guys out there who still want to hit us."

In a two-page bulletin, dated Dec. 8, the FBI reported to federal intelligence officials that Abdel-Rahman had been rushed from prison to a Missouri hospital two days earlier for a blood transfusion. There, doctors discovered a tumor on Rahman's liver, according to the bulletin, which was described to The Associated Press by a law enforcement official.

But U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Tracy Billingsley said Abdel-Rahman's condition had stabilized, and he has since been moved back to prison.

"His condition has improved," Billingsley said.

Officials said the bulletin served merely as a reminder that Abdel-Rahman had called for retaliation by terror sympathizers if he died in prison. It cited a May 1998 news conference in which al Qaeda members distributed his last will and testament, in which Abdel-Rahman pleaded for followers to "extract the most violent revenge" should he die in U.S. custody.

The FBI did not have immediate comment on Thursday.

In a video in September marking the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahri, cited the continuing imprisonment of the sheik.

"I call on every Muslim to make use of every opportunity afforded him to take revenge on America for its imprisonment of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman," he said.

Abdel-Rahman was sentenced to life in prison after his 1995 conviction for his advisory role in a plot to blow up New York landmarks, including the United Nations.

His health has deteriorated in recent years, and he was transferred in September 2003 from the federal Supermax prison in Colorado, where the country's most notorious inmates are held, to the U.S. Medical Center for Prisons in Springfield, Mo. Prisons officials have said Abdel-Rahman has suffered from diabetes, which has threatened the loss of his limbs.

Terror expert Dia'a Rashwan said Abdel-Rahman's death would not be likely to incite huge attacks in the United States because he is closer to an Egyptian militant group than to al Qaeda and "does not enjoy such a status on international level."

Instead, "I expect some small and easy violent acts and attacks, especially in Afghanistan, in retaliation to his death and to keep the name of Omar Abdel-Rahman as a martyr," said Rashwan, an expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, Egypt.

[patriotic9]

chuchuzinho
Differences in opinions is not a bad thing at all rather it's a great way of learning and correcting oneself.There should be no problem in an intellectual debate and conversation provided that all the parties express their point of views with valid reasons.If anybody thinks I am saying something worng and that person brings a valid reason to prove his or her point,I'll change my point of view and correct myself accordingly.

[chuchuzinho-2009]

Wow,
You people are hostile.
Funny, I'm sure you are not like that face to face, just behind the anonymity of the internet.
In any event, it is quite unpleasant.

[patriotic9]

pojar1
That's great.So you think it's a truth that whatever AMERICANS do they will be GOD-NEGLECTED because the RACE they are born is NOT CHOSEN by GOD whereas those GOD CHOSEN ENEMIES of the GOD'S ONLY SON who don't believe in JESUS as MESSIAH and SON OF GOD and DENY VIRGINITY of his MOTHER MARRY are GOD-CHOSEN.The truth is that it's the RESPONSIBLITY of the GOD-NEGLECTED AMERICANS to work day and night to pay tax to our govt and it's the right of the GOD CHOSEN ENEMIES of the GOD'S ONLY SON to snacth more then $3B from the GOD NEGLECTED TAX MONEY which in turn results in the HATRED,TERRORISM and 9/11 agianst AMERICAN and when Americans give their lives on 9/11,GOD doesn't wake up to help them.The Truth is that WOMEN are EVIL and a WOMAN was responsible for a MAN to be kicked out of HEAVEN.
BIBLE teaches to ban embronic stem cell research to protect lives and to kill THOUSANDS of INNOCENT LIVES for the 2nd coming of CHRIST.Truth is that it's OK to discriminate ***,WOMEN and GOD NEGLECTED HUMANITY,when it comes to protect STRAIGHT,MEN and the GOD CHOSEN ENEMIES of the GOD'S only SON.

[pojar1]

patriotic9

You are another spupid idoit who depends on science that holds no real fact either. The Bible is still the greatest source of truth like it or not. You can't prove science did much for humanity other than create atomic bombs and other ways of destroying mankind. They don't even have cures for deseases. New one's just keep popping up and like all other people misuse science their own gain.

[patriotic9]

If EUROPEANS were not brought into PALESTINE after WWII to occupy the land of PALESTINIAN PEOPLE by force when PALESTINIANS had nothing to do with the CRIMES comited by HITLER because THOUSANDS of YEARS OLD NON-SENSE BIBLE said so,Alqaeda would not get enough recruits to CRASH planes into building as KORAN says so.Nobody has been fooled in the whole world like people of USA on the name of CHRISTIANITY and a GOD whose esixtance is not proven by any scientific evidence.
Only purpose of the creation of a GOD-NEGLECTED AMERICAN LIFE is to be a SLAVE,SERVANT and PROTECTOR of those GOD CHOSEN ENEMIES of the GOD'S ONLY SON who don't believe in JESUS as MESSIAH or SON OF GOD and deny the VIRGINITY of HIS MOTHER "MARRY" and accuse her of comiting FORNICATION.How our whole country has become so SENSE LESS as a result of this PSYCHOSIS called CHRISTIANITY.
As long as we are willing to SACRIFICE GOD-NEGLECTED AMERICAN MONEY, AMERICAN LIVES and UNHOLY LAND USA for the GOD-CHOSEN ENEMIES of GOD'S ONLY SON,Islamic Radicalism will become more and more POWERFUL and we'll have to loose millions of our citizens just like we lost thousands on 9/11 and the GOD who was sleeping on 9/11 will keep on sleeping as AMERICANS are not his CHOSEN PEOPLE.

[patriotic9]

Inarguable
"then thinking and planning LONG-TERM is not only prudent,but is an absolute requirement to secure our way of life"
If you think ISLAMIC RADICALS hate our way of life and that was the reason of 9/11 attack,then why those European countries where WOMEN are TOPLESS in public,PROSTITUTION is legal,GAY MARRIAGE is legal,some of those countries even allow a man to marry his real sister,were not attacked by ALQAEDA.Why Alqaeda didn't attack those countries of REAL FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY and why did they attck UNITED STATES where the current BUSH GOVT believes in the same HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS which RADICAL ISLAMIST BELIEVE like the right of GAY PEOPLE to MARRY just like their fellow HETEROSEXUAL CITIZENS,allowing man to be TOPLESS in PUBLIC but to arrest a woman for comiting same action(GENDER BASED DISCRIMINATION)violating women's right to choose PROSTITUTION as a profession(those countries where prostitution is legalized have a better control on STDs as the prostitutes need to be confirmed by a physician as free from STDs).
The main reason whcih helps ISALMIC RADICALS to find recruits is the RADICAL CHRISTIANS'S support to the EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE on the cost of AMERICAN MONEY and AMERICAN LIVES since AMERICANS are GOD-NEGLECTED and the NON AMERICAN EUROPEAN INVADERS IN PALESTINE are GOD-CHOSEN.
The most important tool to fight ISLAMIC RADICALISM is to throw CHRISTIANITY out of our POLITICS.

[baldfrog-2009]

inarguable, working and studying in terrorism is just self justification for yourself.The Bush Administration said the would talk about and take this up next year Mr. Current events.How many more are going to die while they are *** around?Wait til next year.Bush said it!
Meanwhile studying and working in the field of intel and terrorism is self promoting just like the administration tactic to get votes and scare the country.Your talking to yourself to justify your pay by saying there are boogieman where there are not because it pays the rent and is for money for yourself.Being a Soldier,Marine,Airman,or Corpsman in a war has nothing to do with some chicken made up self promoting intel job.The only terror is in the Administrations Paranoid Head's and the rest of you Fear Potatoes if you really believe yourself?
It can not be solved militarily,we had 500,000 on the ground in Nam and used more ammo then in all of WWII.Like I said go over and fight they use Intel Analyst they would welcome your help In Al ANBAR.
Bring Em Home Now!Stop Killing Our Guys For Your Lies!

[inarguable]

baldfrog - you end by saying "wait till next year", and that is your clear problem. You can only seem to be able to think a year ahead of the game, which is standard fare for those too myopic and simplistic in their arguments to demonstrate that they have actually put the study in and taken the time to gain a true and open-minded foundational base of knowledge on the subject matter before they jump to juvenile conclusions. Having worked and studied in the field of terrorism analysis for almost ten years, i can tell you the absurd complexity and nuance involved in this entire conflict is mindboggling to the uneducated. Because the vast majority of the free world is totally uneducated about this enemy, and because they are also far too short-sighted to see the size and danger of the LONG-TERM threat we face from fundamentalist Islam. It would be nice if everyone on Earth migrated to 'Planet Alec Baldwinia' where we all hold hands and sing kumbaya, but this is an evil and complex world, and in an era were an enemy has vowed our destruction and has or is on the cusp of acquiring N/B/C and radiological 'dirty weapons', then thinking and planning LONG-TERM is not only prudent, but is an absolute requirement to securing our way of life.

[baldfrog-2009]

Hmm ,inarguable, Are your another one of the chicken littles that bought the package Rove,his puppets,and the Admin liars who got us into this mess.Why don't you go over to Iraq and point out to our troops who the bad guys are and then we can round them all up.It's civil war now and a lot of the islamic countries are hating us for our posture,thank you current administration.And if you think I am going to live in fear because of all the terror scenarios that can happen,we have already lived through the Cold War,and any CBA specialist knew many of these scenarios and we devised quite a few of them with germs and chemicals.Nothing new dude.Now I am thinking at some time if they do something really bad to us they are going to end up eating nuclear mushrooms.If it comes to that it will be sad but a low yield up in Afghanistan when we after Bin Laden and the rest his cockroaches,the real guys responsible for this,it would have ended it right there.If you really belive yourself go volunteer for the Armed Forces,they are in a world of hurt.Let the Chicken Hawks back here including the chain of command demonstrate and enlighten us how this should be handled for the billionth time.Meanwhile we have guys dying and being wounded in a civil war while the leaders sit around twiddling their indecisive little fingers.Wait till next year we'll get em.Yup wait till next year.

[inarguable]

aintaken - yes, war is an inevitablity. It is simple human nature - as is myopic thinking, and i think you are being incredibly shortsighted in your approach to this war. The term 'War in Iraq' is a misnomer. The US is engaged in a 'Battle in Iraq', a battle that is simply the second step in a much larger war (Afghanistan was the first). The Bush Administration is in fact acting proactively in Iraq, with (to be incredibly simplistic) the goal of setting the stage and making it far easier to fight the battles in the years and decades to come within the Middle East theater. Militant Islam is FAR more dangerous than even Soviet Communism was, because at least with the USSR, there was a functional Politburo and Premier heirarchy in place to negotiate diplomatically with. Islam, by the faith's very construction, has no such heirarchy in place that speaks for the followers (unlike Christianity with its rigid 'Deacon, Priest, Bishop, Cardinal, Pontiff' command and control structure). Getting Bin-Laden is not the End Game. There is no forseeable End Game in sight, because militant Islam has been built and is evolving into a force that truly believes it is approaching a position from which to recreate a Caliphate that will grow to encircle the globe and leave the citizens of the planet a simple option (as laid out in the texts), adhere to the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Mohammad, or face annihilation.