US: The Federal Bureau of Investigtation has warned Americans that al-Qaeda may be planning a "spectacular" terrorist attack intended to damage the US economy and inflict large-scale casualties, writes Conor O'Clery North America Editor
The warning was made public as intelligence agencies came under renewed criticism in Congress for their inability to find Osama bin Laden, which outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mr Tom Daschle said was a sign of deeper problems in the war on terror.
In an extraordinary display of discord at the highest levels, the White House yesterday played down the FBI warning. National security adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice told reporters that the FBI statement contained no new information and it "was not a new warning but a summary of intelligence so far". She said it was important that Americans remain vigilant. The FBI warning published on its web site early yesterday contained stark and frightening language.
It said: "Sources suggest al-Qaeda may favour spectacular attacks that meet several criteria: High symbolic value, mass casualties, severe damage to the US economy and maximum psychological trauma." The highest priority targets remained in aviation, petroleum and nuclear sectors, as well as significant national landmarks, it stated.
"Target vulnerability and likelihood of success may be as important to a weakened al-Qaeda as the target's prominence. Thus, al-Qaeda's next attack may rely on conventional explosives and low-technology platforms such as truck bombs, commercial or private aircraft, small watercraft, or explosives easily concealed and planted by terrorist operatives."
The White House said that because of the lack of precise information, the official terrorist threat level would be kept at code yellow, the middle of a five-level scale of risk.
Concerns over an attack have arisen because of increased "chatter" picked up by intelligence, the taped warnings believed to be from al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and fear of reprisals for the execution on Thursday in Virginia of Mir Aimal Kasi, the Pakistani national who shot dead two CIA employees in Washington in 1992. Recent FBI warnings have been directed to railways and the energy industry.
On Wednesday the bureau issued a "low credibility" warning of a threat to Hospitals in Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington. An administration official said this vague report "unnecessarily raised anxiety levels".
With criticism growing from Democrats that the focus on Iraq is diverting resources from the war on terrorism, Ms Rice said that President Bush "does not start his day on Iraq. He begins his day on the threat level . . . and the war on terrorism".
Democratic Senator Bob Graham of Florida, outgoing chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, however accused the White House of being "so focused on Iraq that they aren't paying attention to the war on terror".
- Reuters adds: One of the top two-dozen al-Qaeda leaders sought by the US in was captured recently and is in US custody, US government sources said yesterday. The sources declined to name the operative who was caught in the past week or so.