NewsMine — propoganda — terror-threats — 2004 — Viewing Item

Vital clues for threat came for alqaeda operatives Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/9306095.htm http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/9306095.htm Posted on Tue, Aug. 03, 2004 Vital clues came from 3 Al Qaeda operatives A higher terror alert was based on intelligence from at least three sources, including a captured al Qaeda communications expert, government sources said. BY WARREN P. STROBEL wstrobel@krwashington.com WASHINGTON - The information that led authorities to issue an unprecedented warning of potential terrorist attacks on financial centers in New York, Washington and New Jersey came from at least three al Qaeda members who were deemed highly reliable, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Monday. Two were pivotal al Qaeda figures arrested last month in Pakistan in separate raids where documentary evidence also was seized, the officials said. The more important of the two was an al Qaeda computer engineer who relayed communications to the network's members, they said. The third is a member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network who is in British custody and is cooperating, one official said. No other details were available. Disclosure of the multiple points of intelligence about planning for the attacks helps explain why the Bush administration decided Sunday to announce a heightened state of alert and identify specific potential targets -- even though counterterrorism experts are unsure how far the terrorists' planning had progressed or whether the plans were even still under consideration. SECURITY POSTURE The alert led to increased security measures around the financial centers, with employees Monday variously greeted by heavily armed police, security guards, Secret Service agents and streets closed to vehicles. The surveillance of the five buildings named in Sunday's alert began before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a U.S. intelligence official said. Analysts are racing through captured documents to determine whether the surveillance and attack planning are continuing, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the classified information involved. One expert suggested that the discovery of the plot and the government's announcement largely neutralized the threat. ''It kills it,'' said Vincent Cannistraro, a former top CIA counterterrorism official. ``This is a dead operational plan.'' But Cannistraro said there's no doubt that Sunday's alert ``is a real one . . . a lot different, qualitatively, than the previous terror alerts, which have been based on much flimsier information.'' In announcing that the government was raising the threat level to ''orange,'' or high, for financial districts in New York City, Washington and Newark, N.J., Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge singled out specific buildings, including the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York; the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington; and the Prudential Financial Inc. building in Newark. U.S. and Pakistani officials said the key break in unraveling the plot came in mid-July, when authorities arrested Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, who is said to be cooperating with interrogators. VIEW INSIDE AL QAEDA While not a senior al Qaeda figure, Khan played a critical role in the organization: He ran a computer operation that helped relay coded messages from al Qaeda's leadership -- believed to be hiding on the Afghan-Pakistani border -- to its lieutenants via the Internet. His information could be invaluable in helping to understand al Qaeda's structure and methods of communication. Another break, officials said, came when U.S. and Pakistani intelligence agents seized a senior al Qaeda operative, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian who was wanted in connection with the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Ghailani and others were captured after a July 25 shootout in the eastern Pakistani city of Gujrat. It remained unclear Monday how much of the plot against U.S. financial centers was divulged by Khan and how much was the fruit of Ghailani's capture. Officials said there was disagreement between the FBI -- which has Ghailani on its list of most-wanted terrorism suspects -- and the CIA over the relative worth of the suspects. The information about specific U.S. buildings that were being targeted and details of terrorists' surveillance of them -- such as what uniforms security guards were wearing and how many people passed by in a given period -- came from Khan, said the U.S. intelligence official. A Pakistani diplomat added: ``Some information we got from him only.'' But other U.S. and Pakistani officials said information on the plot also was found on laptop computers seized when Ghailani was arrested. Apparently, Khan had sent him the information.

Administration expecting attacks before election Alerts in august 2004 sparked by pre 911 information Alqaeda attack within this election cycle { December 13 2003 } Alqaeda nukes through mexico Attack this summer in major us city Britain warnings of attack are political driven { October 15 2004 } Cia analyzes video of attack threat { October 27 2004 } Fbi alerts for drivers with maps Fbi checked las vegas hotel lists Fbi warns of targeting cities Fbi warns texas oil industry of possible attack Former spanish prime minister predicts mid june terror threats { May 19 2004 } Govnernor criticizes flow of terror information { October 26 2004 } Greenspan prepares for terror threats effecting economy { June 15 2004 } Hotels airlines ordered to give fbi information { December 31 2003 } Intelligence for warning dated 4 years old { August 3 2004 } Interrogated alqaeda programmer leads to financial warnings { August 2 2004 } Little evidence of qaeda plot timed to vote { October 24 2004 } Missing keys at nuke lab New information indicates big attacks summer 2004 No alqaida link to airfrance passenger Passenger bomb threat diverts plane to dulles { January 11 2004 } Passengers die on flights to london { January 19 2004 } Preparing for nuclear threat { March 19 2004 } Purported al qaida tape warns of attacks Report warns of failure to control biological weapons { October 26 2004 } Reports that led to terror alert were years old { August 3 2004 } Scared senator shuts down office for election terror threat Seven flights to from us are canceled Suspected terror worked at nuclear weapons lab { December 31 2003 } Tenet warns of spectacular attacks plans Terror alert may disrupt flights for years Terror attack likely early september 2004 { August 3 2004 } Terrorists will enter through using art sports cultural visas Us bracing for terror before election { April 18 2004 } Us feared major aviation dirty bomb attack { January 8 2004 } Us intel learn possible attacks major us cities US mulling how to delay november vote in case attack Us warns qaeda threat to financial icons world bank imf Valentines weekend flight cancellation { February 12 2004 } Vital clues for threat came for alqaeda operatives Files Listed: 41

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