Posted on 05/18/2002 10:48:44 PM PDT by Spar
Sunday May 19, 10:50 AM
Al-Qaeda may target US apartment buildings: FBI
Militants from the al-Qaeda network, blamed for September 11 suicide attacks, may be preparing another massive strike against the United States, including US apartment buildings, US officials said.
The announcement came as US intelligence analysts reported increased communications among al-Qaeda cells around the world, which they said could be an indication that preparations for a new terrorist attack against the United States could be under way.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has received information al-Qaeda leaders had discussed a possible plan to rent apartment units in the United States and plant explosives there, FBI spokeswoman Debra Weierman told AFP.
"We have no indication that this proposed plan went beyond the discussion stage," she said. "But in an abundance of caution, we notified our field offices and the Joint Terrorism Task Force last week."
Weierman described the reports about al-Qaeda's possible plans to attack apartment complexes as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated and said they gave no clue where the targeted building were located.
While there are no known recent cases of terrorist bombings of apartment buildings in the United States, they are very well-known in Russia.
A total of about 300 people were killed in a spate of bomb blasts, blamed on Chechen separatists, that rocked multi-apartment housing projects in Moscow and the cities of Buinaksk and Volgodonsk in 1999.
At least in one of these incidents, explosives were moved into a Moscow apartment building in burlap sacks marked "sugar."
Al-Qaeda and the Chechen rebels maintain close ties, according to US officials, with the two group providing each other military assistance.
The US officials and counterterrorism experts denied the administration of President George W. Bush planned to raise the national security alert level, which currently remains at "yellow," or elevated.
But they warned the suspected new attack could be even more devastating than September 11 suicide strikes with hijacked airliners against the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon building near here.
A fourth airliner crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers apparently thwarted the hijackers.
"There are serious threats that remain," said White House spokeswoman Anne Womack. "We doing our best to collect the information."
She said she could not comment on specific intelligence information from the Central Intelligence Agency about al-Qaeda's activities.
But intelligence specialists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there has been an increase in message traffic among al-Qaeda cells in recent weeks.
"That strongly suggests preparations for a new operation," said one of them. "There has been a lot of movement within al-Qaeda recently."
US intelligence analysts believe last month's attack on a synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba, which killed 19 people, and a suicide bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, that killed 11 French naval engineers and three Pakistanis, were the work of al-Qaeda.
"That, in conjunction with other factors, indicates al-Qaeda has been able to reorganize itself" since the loss of its bases in Afghanistan, said one of the intelligence experts.
The increase signals traffic among al-Qaeda cells was first reported by The New York Times, which described the intercepted messages as cryptic and ambiguous but with a pattern reminiscent of the period leading up to the September 11 attacks.
The Bush administration has accused al-Qaeda and its leader, Saudi-born Islamist militant Osama bin Laden, of masterminding the September 11 attacks, and launched a massive military campaign to disrupt the group's activities.
Look how they try and cover their slime trails now.
How many terrorists lose in the US? Say a 1000; give each one 20 pounds and tell him how to kill 320 people with one ounce each. Put it water softner, bottled drinks, swimming pool, salt shakers at resturants, local water plants, office water cooler bottle, coffee pot, etc. Massive attack. Much bigger than WTC and anywhere in country. Panicsville.
Officials now say NY Apartment house was Sodium "something else", could they be covering up a test?
They tried it in Rome and discovered they didn't have enough; now they do.
The guy arrested in Chicago a few months back also had cyanide.
Same stuff mixed with acids produces hydrogen cyanide gas, used in many wars. Great for closed in areas.
I'm staying home and drinking out of the lake.
What me worry?
By the way, you little person....Israel supplied mortars and other weapons to the Serbs in their fight against the al queerda mujahadeen in Bosnia...just like the Saudis, the Iranians and bin laden did for the Bosnians!!!
Mining gold with it...gee, I wish that was the reason it was stolen, but somehow, I think not.
I wonder if the Egyptians who fell ill were Coptic Christians?? If a muslim wanted to do a test-run, a Christian who fled from muslim persecution in Egypt would certainly be a choice target for islamics.
In my city, we have about 1 hundred Coptic Christians who fled muslim persecution a few years ago. Their villages were raided and their clergy was butchered.
the clever Serb master plan to defeat Osama
They would have if not fpr NATO's support of the al-Qaida allied Balkan Islamists. From Accuracy In Media: The Serb War Against Bin Laden
Ah, yes and before the "brave" Serbs fought the Muslims, they attacked and slaughtered the Christians Slovenians and Croatians.
You mean when South Carolina left the Union, it was Lincoln who was the aggressor? By the what kind of Christians are the Croatians that they allow Osama Bin Laden to open an office in the Croatian capital? As reported recently by Stars & Stripes West feeling the fallout of efforts to aid Bosnian Muslims a decade ago
No one is buying Serbian revisionist history
Your version of history LenS is not only revisionist, it was crafted by al-Qaida.
You no longer have any legs to stand on. From The New York Times The Horrors of the Balkan Wars as Shrewdly Staged Illusions
The radical islamics have played klintoon for the piss-poor president that he was....he allowed them to create chaos....now, WHAT IS HIS PAY OFF????
I hear he is visiting, RIGHT NOW, that hotbed of islamic terror against Christians...INDONESIA, for around of.... GOLF????
Personally, I'm moving to the Rocky Mountains. Durango sounds interesting, though I'll sure miss the beach.
Clinton played the US. He didn't respond when two US embassies were bombed by Al-Qaeda. For those not realizing - Embassy property is considered Soveriegn soil of the Nation it represents. And BinLaden in interviews said this is why he ratcheted up attacks. Furthermore, when Clinton did respond, what did he do? He blew up the only real medicinal production facility the Arabs had - ticking off most muslims, then lobbed missiles into Afganistan hitting Four mosques if Horowitz is correct. Four! One would be bad enough to enrage the most peaceful muslim.
Finally, Democrat slashing of intelligence budgets and resources left the US sending raw intelligence data to Pakistan intelligence for translation to english as we have no Arab resources in the US anymore - thanks very much to the jackass party of america. Pakistan put Al Qaeda in power in Afghanistan. Is it any wonder that BinLaden escaped Clinton's lame non-attempt to get him?! Nixon's administration was at least understandable. Clinton's is the biggest stain on the fabric of the Presidency of this Country's history. If we survive the Democrats, it should be the first order of business to hand them their hats either in tandem with the war effort or after the war against terror has ended.
Everything you wrote....I could not agree with you any more than I do. As my husband said the ohter day...that b$turd klintoon has been trying to get us all killed or hurt.
Damien of OMEN fame had less evil attached to him than klintoon does.
Can you tell how I feel about him????? A SMOKING, SIZZLING DISLIKE....that would be something like hate, ya' think!!!
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