9/11 plot included attack on warship - mag

New York Daily News ^ | 2/21/03 | JAMES GORDON MEEK and BILL HUTCHINSON

[kattracks]

Al Qaeda terrorists were plotting a fifth attack on Sept. 11, 2001, using a freighter loaded with explosives they hoped to use against a U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf, a new report says.

The plan was called off at the last minute because enough explosives couldn't be obtained and Al Qaeda feared a leak about the airplane hijackings, Newsweek reported.

A U.S. official denied Newsweek's story last night, saying, "It doesn't ring true."

"We're not aware of an additional plot scheduled for 9/11," the official said.

Two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center and a third hit the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field after passengers fought back. The attacks claimed 3,016 victims.

The fifth attack that didn't happen was intended to show the global reach of Al Qaeda, Newsweek said.

Quoting foreign officials who work closely with the CIA, the magazine said terrorists had their sights set on an assault in the Strait of Hormuz.

The terrorists purchased a freighter with a crane and speedboats they planned to load with explosives, then planned to use suicide crews to ram the boats into a U.S. ship - mimicking a deadly 2000 attack on the Navy destroyer Cole off Yemen. If the Navy knocked out the speedboats before they detonated, the terrorists planned to blow the freighter up after maneuvering near a warship, sources told the magazine. The magazine said Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who allegedly helped plan the Cole attack and 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa, was the mastermind of the warship plot. Al-Nashiri is reportedly in CIA custody.