The US government last night issued an alert about a possible act of terrorism against banks in Northeastern states, and officials said the information came partly from interrogating Abu Zubaydah, the most senior al Qaeda member in US custody.
"The threat warning is based in part on information learned from Abu Zubaydah," one US official said.
It was the most concrete acknowledgment yet of the type of information coming out of the Zubaydah interrogations. Considered the chief recruiter for al Qaeda and one of Osama bin Laden's top deputies, Zubaydah was being held in an undisclosed location and had been treated for three gunshot wounds received during his March capture in Pakistan.
"The United States government has received unsubstantiated information that unspecified terrorists are considering physical attacks against US financial institutions in the northeast, particularly banks, as part of their campaign against US financial interests," the FBI said in a statement.
The alert came as the world's finance ministers gathered in Washington for meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
Attorney General John Ashcroft decided yesterday to postpone a trip to Russia, Switzerland and Hungary which was due to begin today. Justice Department officials said the decision was made for several reasons, including the alert.
Mr Ashcroft said the government was not asking banks to close or urging people to stay away from banks.
"We are alerting law enforcement, financial institutions and the American people to be vigilant, and to be aware of anything that appears suspicious," he said in Pittsburgh.