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I still say 60/40 it's ME related terror . . .

I agree. I believe the longer this goes on without the killer being caught, the more likely it is MR-related terror and the more likely it involves one or at most two or three people. That is, the killer is his own autonomous cell or a member of a very small and internally-loyal autonomous cell. I suspect telephone calls are not being placed and email is not being exchanged between the killer(s) and home base, because our spooks would almost certainly have zeroed in on them--particularly once the message traffic leaves the US.

The killer seems to be demonstrating blood-chilling discipline and caution. I tend to believe he is not a home-grown psychotic--but a Muslim zealot with a rifle.

OSAMA'S RIFLEMEN

By NILES LATHEM and MARSHA KRANES

October 18, 2002 -- An al Qaeda suspect in custody in Belgium told American investigators he saw members of the terror organization training snipers in preparation for attacks on U.S. soil, a source told The Post last night.

One of the planned attacks targeted U.S. senators on a golf course.

Suspect Nizar Treblisi - questioned by U.S. agents - said a three-man sniper team trained for attacks while shooting from distances of 150 to 750 feet, the source said.

Investigators plan to ask terror suspects held at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, whether the al Qaeda plot might be tied to the sniper murders in Virginia and Maryland.

The Post first reported yesterday that inmates at the Cuban base would be questioned about the D.C.-area rampage.

Treblisi, a suspect in the plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Paris, spilled the goods on the al Qaeda plot in the last few days, according to ABC News.

It's no surprise that al Qaeda has taught its operatives sniper techniques.

Al Qaeda terror manuals found in Afghanistan have sections on assassination - and ABC News last night aired film of al Qaeda trainees practicing shooting from the backs of pickup trucks.

Those practice sessions were part of the al Qaeda sniper training course, Treblisi reportedly told investigators.

Even if the Washington-area shootings aren't an al Qaeda plot, they may still have a terror link, The Post's source said.

One possibility is that the killer or killers have al Qaeda training, but are carrying out their plot without direct involvement of the organization.

Or they may be acting on their own as admirers of al Qaeda and its boss, terror lord Osama bin Laden - as may have been the case with Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, who gunned down two people July 4 at the El Al counter of Los Angeles International Airport.

Hadayet was shot dead by an El Al security guard.

Investigators believe that whoever is doing the shooting knows area roads - leading them to think that the sniper is a local resident or someone who has been in the area for some time.

Sources noted that some key information is being kept from the public because police want to keep it from the sniper, who they believe has been watching their press briefings and closely following media accounts of the investigation's progress.

This was made clear by Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Charles Moose following a recent tactical session with other Washington-area police chiefs, when he implored reporters not to reveal about any leaks from the meeting because the sniper is watching.