Fears al-Qaeda plotting new attack in US

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | May 21 2003 | Peter Finn in Riyadh

[dead]

An al-Qaeda cell believed to have fled Saudi Arabia for the United States or Europe shortly before the recent Riyadh bombings has sparked fears of an imminent attack on American soil.

A high volume of "chatter" - intelligence intercepts - has intensified fears of new attacks and is close to the level of communications intercepted before the strikes against the Riyadh compounds, a high-ranking Saudi official said.

The unnamed official said there had been at least three al-Qaeda cells with about 50 hard-core operatives in the kingdom before the bombings. He acknowledged that there was a much wider circle of sympathisers and US officials broadly agreed with his analysis.

"We don't believe there are tens of thousands of active al-Qaeda members here, but we believe the al-Qaeda presence is more than a single cell or two cells," a senior US official said yesterday.

Saudi sources described the threat of further attacks in the US or Saudi Arabia as "very serious".

"I think they were looking to do something more major than [the Riyadh bombings]," Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, said on Monday.

About 377 kilograms of explosives was discovered at a safe house raided near one of the compounds a week before the attacks. The Interior Ministry said at the time it was hunting 19 men in connection with the weapons cache.

"That would have taken out two blocks in the city if it had gone off accidentally. We're all wondering if it's the last [of the explosives] or is it the tip of the iceberg," Prince bin Sultan said.

The warning came as a large explosion rocked a cafe in the centre of Turkey's capital, Ankara, early yesterday, killing one person. The cause of the blast was not immediately clear. Charred metal and glass were strewn across the road outside the three-storey cafe, located in the city's main commercial district of Kizilay.

Several guerilla groups, including leftist militants and Kurdish rebels, have carried out attacks on civilian targets in Turkey during recent years.

But explosions also frequently occur due to faulty gas and electricity systems.

In Morocco, the Justice Minister, Mohamed Bouzoubaa, said on Monday that no link had been established between al-Qaeda and last week's suicide bombings in Casablanca that killed 41 people. In the United States, the last of the "Lackawanna Six" alleged terrorist cell pleaded guilty on Monday to providing "material support" to al-Qaeda, closing the case against the six US citizens - without any defendant standing trial or the Government having to prove that the men were part of a sleeper cell.

Instead, Mukhtar al-Bakri, 23, merely acknowledged in court that al-Qaeda instructors in Afghanistan had trained him to wage war against America and Israel, the Los Angeles Times said.

Facing a lengthy prison sentence if convicted at trial, al-Bakri, like his five comrades, chose to plead guilty to a single offence in the hope of serving less than 10 years. In return, he will co-operate in identifying al-Qaeda recruiters and other terrorist operatives.

[blam]

Interesting, thanks.

[BagCamAddict]

If the airlines would place less emphasis on hiring GOOD LOOKING FEMALE flight attendants in order to please the male business traveler... and more emphasis on hiring flight attendants that could act as a security force (if necessary), then we might all feel a little safer in the air.

The existing flight attendants didn't apply for jobs as a Security Force. Many of them were hired as Flying Barbie Dolls. So it's a difficult transition to make with an entire workforce that was hired as good-looking waiters and waitresses. But any NEW HIRES should be security-oriented - with no emphasis on whether they are good looking or not.

[swarthyguy]

Don't forget this...... This is reminscent of the "Like A Duck in (a) Noose" speculation With Chief Moose and the DC snipers.

[DoughtyOne]

This COULD NOT HAPPEN if we would stop immigration from the middle-east and certain areas of southeast Asia for the time being, and regain control of our borders.  Yet we REFUSE to do so.  We are admittedly in a wartime setting, yet we stumble on as if in a sleep induced trance.

We are in a War on Terror.  We are in a War on Terror.  We are in a War on...

Potentil fifth columnists enter this nation every day.  Why?

[angcat]

Your a tough cookie to open your mouth and speak up, I hope you are one one of my flights one day!

[sarasota]

Last night CNN pointed to Tampa as having major terrorist cells.

[monkeywrench]

But the backlash against Muslim/Arabs would be more than Al Qaeda ever bargained before.

Alqueda wants to galvanize all of islam into a holy war against Christians and Jews. Any "backlash" would suit their purposes just fine.

[sarasota]

Thanks for posting this. I'm flying Spirit in two weeks--an airline I've never heard of until I booked on expedia.com. Doesn't hurt to bump up our awareness.

[Mo1]

CNN is reporting that in an hour the WH will be announcing that we will go from yellow back up to orange

[Dirk McQuickly]

I think the tough cookie was my wife for being persistent with me about it. I wasn't going to say anything but it kept upsetting her as the group began to grow in front of the cockpit door.

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

Per MSNBC from White House...Threat Level in now raised to High

[We Happy Few]

"Fox news reports the FBI says the attack is "imminent"

I'm not one to panic, but the word "imminent" got my attention."

Doesn't Homeland Security designate red, not orange, for an "imminent" threat?

[CELTICGAEL (Celt)]

Per MSNBC White House will announce it offically in approx. 1 hour.

[COBOL2Java]

makes me think they may be planning some sort of WMD hit."

Perhaps use will be made of Saddam's missing WMDs.

[sarasota]

The transcript yammers on about digging trenches. Like the ones they dug around Baghdad, I suppose. Oh yeah, a lot of good that did.

[rs79bm]

Apparently they just raised the alert level to orange.

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for posting this. I'm flying Spirit in two weeks--an airline I've never heard of until I booked on expedia.com. Doesn't hurt to bump up our awareness.

Yes I appreciate the info too. I was here in the city on 9/11 and will never forget the sight of those planes. I haven't been on a plane since then. I thought things were quieting down a bit and I'm taking my first flight this Thursday since that day. I'm hoping I don't freak out on the plane. My co-worker just passed by and said they shut down Penn Station and that there's some sort of investigation going on.

[livius]

Tampa does - Sami al Arian wasn't the only Islamist there. Orlando also has terrorist related businesses, and in fact, there was a big round-up of money launderers there a few months ago. Jacksonville supposedly has the largest al Qaeda linked mosque (mostly Black Muslims) on the East Coast.

[We Happy Few]

Any peninsula can be a "tail." Like San Francisco.

Hills are bad news as far as the threat from terrorist vehicles is concerned: Force equals mass times acceleration.

[sarasota]

I was pretty tense the first time I flew after 9.11 but I had my daughter with me so I got in costume and played my "role". I did, however, really scope out all the passengers--no suspicious looking characters. Have flown a number of times since and it's getting easier.