London-based Arabic language newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi is reporting indications from a Yemeni with “very close” al-Qaeda ties that Osama bin Laden is plotting an attack against the United States that will “outdo by far” September 11.

The report says that bin Laden sent a message to all jihad cells warning them not to interact with local governments in the Arab world and to reject any formal talks suggested over the past few months, and the source suggested al-Qaeda may send some signals about its intentions over the “next few days.”

The report comes just days after President Bush predicted that terrorists would use the transition to an Obama Administration as an opportunity to attack Americans, though he did not mention al-Qaeda by name. Since the September 11 attacks killed around 3,000 people, an attack that would outdo it “by far” would have to be of a completely unprecedented scale.

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