Bin Laden seriously ill, orders house call

CAIRO -- Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden is sustaining a serious deterioration of his kidneys and requires advanced medical care, an Arab newspaper reported on Sunday.

The London-based Al Hayat daily said Bin Laden has ordered for a physician to arrive at his lair in Afghanistan to administer medical care. The newspaper said Bin Laden has refused to leave his hideout out of fear of being captured by U.S. agents.

Bin Laden requires treatment that is not available in Afghanistan, the daily said. Al Hayat quoted sources as saying that they could not provide details of Bin Laden's illness. But the sources suggested that his illness has led to a cessation of activities by Bin Laden.

In Jordan, the prosecution is preparing charges against a suspected Bin Laden lieutenant, Khalil Dik. Dik was said to have led a suspected terrorist cell in plans to blow up tourist facilities in Jordan during millennium celebrations last month.

Jordanian sources said Dik, a Palestinian with U.S. citizenship, has confessed to carrying instructions to prepare bombs. They said Dik is suspected of working for a travel agency connected to Bin Laden and which made travel arrangements for Islamic terrorist agents.

Bin Laden is also said to be involved in the current terrorist alert in Moscow. Russian authorities have placed the city on alert for attacks by Chechen separatists.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, Japanese officals expressed doubts that Lebanon would honor a request by Tokyo for the extradition of five members of the Red Army terrorist group. Japanese officials said so far the government in Beirut has not responded to Tokyo's request. They pointed out that the five Red Army members are scheduled to end their jail sentence in Lebanon next month.

Sources cited a report by Lebanese Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum that asserted that Lebanon will deal with the matter in line with Lebanese law, rather than Japanese or international law.