8th Letter Bomb Found; Islamic Militants Suspected

WASHINGTON — An eighth potentially lethal letter bomb was found Friday in Leavenworth, Kan., as investigators pursued suspicions that the devices were sent by Islamic militants bent on revenge.

Postal investigators recovered the letter at about 6:30 a.m. Friday at a post office outside Leavenworth federal prison. The letter, like two found at the prison Thursday, was addressed to “parole officer” at the facility.

Five similar letter bombs were recovered Thursday in Washington at the offices of the Arabic newspaper Al Hayat, a Saudi-owned publication. All eight letters were postmarked in Alexandria, Egypt.

FBI officials warned that other letters may be in circulation. Postal facilities and other government offices around the country were warned of the attempted bombings and put on security alert.

The letters’ destinations raised suspicions that they might have been mailed by followers of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who was convicted of conspiring to blow up the World Trade Center in Manhattan and other New York landmarks.

One of four militants convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Mohammed A. Salameh, is imprisoned at Leavenworth. Victor Alvarez, convicted with nine others for plotting to blow up the United Nations headquarters and other New York targets, is also at Leavenworth, his attorney said. Three of Alvarez’s co-defendants were from around Alexandria in Egypt.

Abdel Rahman, who is imprisoned in Springfield, Mo., waged a clandestine holy war against the United States for what he and his followers viewed as its crimes against the Islamic world. He was also convicted of conspiring to kill Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Abdel Rahman’s followers have not carried out any acts of retribution since his conviction. But Abdel Rahman’s angry denunciation of the United States after his conviction suggests that his followers may believe retribution is justified.

In an appeal in April, the blind cleric urged his followers to “make your voice heard” to improve his living conditions in prison.

“People of manhood, support, sacrifice and dignity rise up from your deep slumber and make your voice heard,” said the letter, which was first reported in Al-Hayat. “Rise up and see justice done.” The sheik accused the prison’s guards of racial and religious prejudice.

FBI officials said they had no suspects. But they said they were treating the mailings as likely terrorism. U.S. officials in Egypt have been pressed into service on the case.

“We’re pursuing all angles,” said Jeff Lanza, an FBI spokesman in Kansas City, Mo.

The letters seemed designed to look like holiday greeting cards. They measured 5 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches, but contained enough explosive to kill, authorities said.

The bombs were initially discovered by a reporter for Al-Hayat. Suspicious, he clipped open an edge of one of the letters rather than rip it open. Inside he found what he took to be plastic explosive, wrapped in cellophane, with a wire protruding from it.

Officials of the Saudi paper insisted that they would not be intimidated by the attempted bombing. The paper, owned by a member of the Saudi royal family, has often been critical of Islamic terrorists.

In its Friday issue, the newspaper said it “will continue to condemn all kinds of terrorism and pledges that one or two bombs will never force it to change its line.”