Bin Laden 'ordered US attack'
2003-12-24 08:46
Washington - The US decision to raise the national terrorism alert level to "high" was triggered by fresh intelligence indicating Osama bin Laden and his top deputy personally approved a plan for a new terrorist attack, NBC News reported late on Tuesday.
Citing unnamed US officials, the television network said US intelligence agencies had gathered detailed information about the plan, according to which al-Qaeda operatives will seek to hijack foreign airliners and fly them into targets in the United States.
In some instances, the intelligence is so detailed as to include specific flight numbers, the report said.
As a result several US airports, particularly Newark International Airport in New Jersey, have found themselves under intense scrutiny, NBC News said.
US officials and terrorism experts said there was a method to al-Qaedas plot, according to the network.
They said al-Qaeda seems particularly interested in Tappahannock, Virginia, a tiny town of 2 016 people with no military base or major infrastructure, the report said
Such an attack would be intended to generate widespread fear that no one, even residents of small towns, was safe in the United States, NBC News quoted US officials as saying.
In addition to cities like New York and Los Angeles, bin Laden's organisation has targeted Las Vegas because of its economic value as home to large conventions and trade shows, according to the report.
Other possible targets include nuclear power plants and dams as well as oil facilities at Valdez, Alaska.
The increased terror alert was also triggered by reports that al-Qaeda operatives may now be fully trained and licensed pilots for some foreign airlines, ideally positioning them to carry out suicide attacks, NBC News said.
- AFP