Source gave U.S. details of new plot
By Toni Locy, Kevin Johnson, Mimi Hall and John Diamond, USA TODAY
>>WASHINGTON — The nation's recent Code Orange terror alert was triggered by a new U.S. intelligence source that, for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, allowed officials to get specifics about how al-Qaeda was planning to use international flights for imminent attacks in the USA, four top government officials say.
Beginning Dec. 5, the intelligence source revealed that al-Qaeda might use explosives on two Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles on Christmas Day or New Year's Eve, according to the officials, who are familiar with the government's counterterrorism, intelligence and law enforcement efforts during the alert.
U.S. counterterrorism and intelligence officials are cryptic about the new source, whose identity is a closely guarded secret. They will not describe it as "human intel," and suggest that the information came from high-tech surveillance. Such electronic monitoring could involve intercepted e-mails or other communications of a possibly unsuspecting al-Qaeda operative.
The new source also revealed that Las Vegas was a target on "12/31," and that up to three other international flights could be blown up or hijacked and crashed into U.S. buildings by al-Qaeda operatives.
That information, combined with less specific reports from other intelligence sources that suggested Osama bin Laden's terrorist network would try to attack oil and nuclear facilities, led top Bush administration officials to raise the nationwide terrorism alert on Dec. 21.<<<
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