New attacks by 'decentralised' Al-Qaeda?
US officials say some recent incidents support the idea that Al-Qaeda has left plotting of attacks to local operatives
WASHINGTON - The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned of new terror attacks by Al-Qaeda amid warnings by counter-terrorism experts that the terrorist network has decentralised, leaving the plotting to local operatives.
The FBI said on Wednesday its concerns were heightened by comments from Al-Qaeda detainees who interpreted taped remarks this week by the network's leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri which were aired by Arab satellite Al-Jazeera television.
In an audio-taped message that was aired on Sunday, a voice believed to be that of Osama refers to Al-Qaeda ''targeting key sectors of the US economy'', the FBI noted.
Osama's deputy repeated the threat against French and German interests as well in another audio-taped interview obtained on Tuesday.
''The group's leaders have said that they aim to undermine what they see as the backbone of US power, the economy,'' the FBI said.
It urged law enforcement agencies to take extra precautions to ''detect, disrupt, deter, and defend against potential attacks'' against the nation, at home and abroad.
The FBI warning coincided with a report that the administration of President George W. Bush was close to completing a ''super-critical list'' of potential terrorist targets that, if struck, would cause the greatest damage to the country in terms of lives, money, national defence and public confidence.
Officials said the list, expected to be ready by the end of the year, would be one of the most comprehensive examinations ever done of the nation's physical infrastructure, including its food and water supplies, telecommunication systems, energy facilities and transportation networks.
US counter-terrorism experts, who were already expecting some kind of action, have refused to rule out the possibility of another large attack by Al-Qaeda terrorists.
Al-Qaeda's calling card has been spectacular attacks, using lots of explosives, often against multiple targets simultaneously.
But the US counter-terrorism experts said a number of recent incidents also support the idea that Al-Qaeda has decentralised, leaving the plotting of attacks to local operatives.
The incidents include a bombing in the Philippines on Oct 2 in which three people, including an American soldier, were killed, the blast aboard a French-owned oil tanker off the coast of Yemen on Sunday and a shootout in Kuwait on Tuesday, which also left a US soldier dead.
A French investigator for the Yemen blast yesterday appeared to confirm fears that the tanker was a victim of a terrorist strike.
Mr Jean-Francois Perrouty said that fibreglass debris from what could be an attacking boat had been found on the disabled tanker.
Asked if the debris looked similar to that found on the US warship Cole, attacked by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers on a small boat in Yemeni waters in October 2000, Mr Perrouty said: ''Possibly yes''.
Intelligence officials have said they believe Al-Qaeda decentralised after the US war in Afghanistan. Many of its top leaders are hiding, allowing overseas cells to devise their own attacks.
Leaders are communicating with followers through video and audio tapes, rather than direct contact.
Counter-terrorism officials have said two top Osama lieutenants, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, are continuing to organise strikes.
Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept 11 attacks, has been tied to the April bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, and al-Nashiri is suspected of organising plots against US and British warships crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and the US Navy's 5th Fleet Headquarters in Bahrain.
A plot to bomb at least one American embassy in South-east Asia, on the anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks, was broken up. Officials believe it was organised by leaders of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional affiliate of Al-Qaeda.
In addition, terrorist groups still have the money to conduct fresh attacks on the US despite the campaign to paralyse them financially, Bush administration officials have told Congress.
The head of a US Muslim charity, Syrian-born Enaam Arnaout, was charged on Wednesday with helping terrorists and deceiving donors by funnelling funds to Al-Qaeda network and other militant groups. AP, Washington Post, Reuters |
