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Posted on 08/12/2004 11:52:24 PM PDT by LibWhacker
ISLAMABAD - Osama bin Laden has called for attacks on targets in the United States and Britain, Pakistani intelligence officials said on Wednesday, but it was not clear if his appeal was accompanied by more detailed orders.
"Osama has given the go ahead to target important places and personalities in the U.S., U.K. and Pakistan," one Pakistani intelligence source said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said bin Laden's order emerged during the interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistan caught in a month-long crackdown that has dealt the network a major blow.
One of at least three top operatives, Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, also gave authorities information that led to the arrest on Sunday of two Turkish al-Qaeda members linked to an attack on a Jewish target in Turkey and who fought in Chechnya, officials revealed on Wednesday.
Officials say the network's local and global threat has been reduced, but they warn of further attacks by al-Qaeda and local Islamic militant allies in Pakistan who are incensed by the country's decision to back the U.S.-led war on terror.
Wednesday's Washington Times, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said al-Qaeda could be planning to target an American or foreign leader either within the United States or abroad.
The sketch of a plot to target President Bush surfaced on an online magazine of al-Qaeda's organization in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
A one-line answer to a Saut al-Jihad reader's query said: "The plan you have drawn up to assassinate Bush is good but would need a lot of preparation."
"Perhaps you can take part in it, if possible, and thanks," the magazine told the reader -- named only as Madad -- without giving further details. The reader's question was not published.
A Middle East security expert who reviewed the site said it would be rare for a known al-Qaeda figure to discuss a detailed plan over a Web site. He said, however the message may have some "operational value," but using Bush's name indicated if a plot were afoot, it was in an early stage.
The specific reference could also be a red herring.
Pakistani intelligence agencies have been questioning key al-Qaeda figures including Ghailani, wanted for the attacks on U.S. embassies in east Africa in 1998, Qari Saifullah Akhtar, a top al-Qaeda operational chief in Pakistan, and computer engineer Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan.
Khan's laptop computer has proved a treasure trove of information on al-Qaeda's plans to launch attacks, including in the United States and on Heathrow airport in London.
He was believed to have acted as a communications middleman between operatives in remote areas of Pakistan and those in Europe and the United States.
Sunday's arrests of the two Turks were the latest in the sweep that has netted more than 20 suspects and led to a security alert in the United States and the arrest of 13 suspects in Britain under anti-terror laws.
The two who identified themselves as Salman and Faisal, confessed to traveling to Afghanistan after the attack in Turkey, and from there to join Muslim rebels in Russia's breakaway region of Chechnya.
A laptop computer, CD discs and literature were found in their possession. The officials did not give details of the attack with which the men were linked. Car bombs exploded outside two synagogues in Istanbul in November last year, killing 25 people. Reuters
This is news?
Remember the Wash Times the other day?? It'll start with a video of Ossama or a call to attack??
In short, enough trash talk. Put up or shut up.
So it's kind of like a guy serving in Viet Nam 35 years ago who keeps milking it and milking it despite the fact that he hasn't done anything noteworthy since then.
Well, during his campaign is when the public is closest to him.
The secret service has their job cut out for them.
Pray for President Bush people, he needs spiritual as well as physical protection.
Whoooo boy.... take out Bush and OBL will get Cheney ....
To paraphrase the song, "I know what OBL is feeling ... but what is he thinking???"
I just completed a 2-week auto trip throughout this great land of ours ... California to Ohio to Tennessee to Texas and back to California. Along, the way, as I took in the scenery and spoke with people, it occurred to me more than once that the terrorists do not have a clue as to what America is really like. This country is so big and so diverse and so **free** that Al Quaida and the like seem to me to be much like a dog chasing a car. What, exactly, could the dog do with a car if it caught it? And what, exactly, could these terrorists do if they 'won?'
Call me naive, but my faith and hope in this great land was invigorated by spending so much time traveling through it and talking to many different people in different states.
I do hope he stays away from crowds. People will understand. We're at war and the enemy is targeting our president.
*YAWN*....Bin who?
He is at risk.
I am. But that needs to be repeated..!!
Everything needs to be repeated, including pictures of the attacks on 9-11.
We all have such busy lives that it is easy to forget.
You're right!
They must be consulting UBL through a medium because he's been dead for 2.75 years.
But, but hanoi john and his stooges have told us that it's all political...boo, hoo, boo, hoo. I'm going to go into a depression, just wait and see if I don't go hide under my bed.
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