Jailed Cleric Who Plotted To Blow Up Tunnels Still A Concern For NJ
UPDATED: 8:35 pm EDT July 7, 2005
TRENTON, N.J. -- Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Muslim cleric convicted a decade ago of plotting to blow up New York City landmarks, remains a concern for New Jersey authorities, wary that his poor health may spur terrorist activity, state Attorney General Peter C. Harvey said Thursday.
Abdel-Rahman is serving a life term in federal prison. But information about the radical Egyptian sheik has been scarce, particularly after his former lawyer, Lynne Stewart, was convicted earlier this year of sneaking messages from him to his disciples.
"It's his followers and also people who adhere to his teachings who concern us. We all have seen information that suggests there could be some activity that surrounds the state of his health, or some worse event that may happen to him. So we have to pay attention to it," Harvey said following a news conference at which state officials discussed beefed up security in New Jersey because of the terrorist bombings in London.
Abdel-Rahman, 67, is serving his sentence in a federal prison hospital facility in Springfield, Mo. A diabetic, the cleric last year waged a hunger strike, shunning his insulin and eating candy to make his condition worse.
Harvey cautioned there wasn't immediate cause for alarm. But he said the situation is something law enforcement needed to be mindful of.
Abdel-Rahman, who preached at a Jersey City mosque, was convicted in 1995 of plotting to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and blow up New York landmarks, including the United Nations, two tunnels and a bridge.
He was the spiritual leader for the men convicted in the first World Trade Center attack in 1993.
After his 1993 arrest, prosecutors say, Abdel-Rahman urged followers to rescue him and to kill Americans "wherever you find them."
http://www.wnbc.com/news/4696901/detail.html
Just doing associations here...thinking out loud...
The King's Cross Station is in the Camden area of London
Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind Muslim cleric was from the Camden, NJ mosque.
Is there a train station in Camden, NJ?
After his 1993 arrest, prosecutors say, Abdel-Rahman urged followers to rescue him and to kill Americans "wherever you find them."
Isn't he in the Supermax prison in Colorado? Hasn't there been numerous thefts of explosives in Colorado?