Zarqawi planning US attack
2005-03-13 17:35
Washington - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States, including "movie theaters, restaurants and schools," Time magazine reported on Sunday, citing reported comments by a former top aide to the Islamic extremist.
The comments, cited in a restricted bulletin sent out to US security agencies and published by Time on its website, come two weeks after intelligence officials confirmed that Osama bin Laden had sent a message to Jordanian-born Zarqawi, urging al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq to plan attacks on US soil.
US intelligence officials who have interrogated the aide told the news magazine that Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, has also talked about entering the United States through its leaky southern border, by obtaining a visa to Honduras and then traveling across Mexico.
Zarqawi's aide also reportedly told interrogators that attacks on US targets might already have begun if not for a lack of "willing martyrs."
Time said US authorities remain vigilant, and reported that security sources sent out two nationwide bulletins last week warning of a non-specific threat to railroads in Detroit, Michigan, and Los Angeles.
For several months, most claims of attacks carried out by the insurgency in Iraq, dominated by supporters of the former B'aathist regime, have been issued by groups purportedly linked to Zarqawi's network.
Washington is offering a $25m bounty for Zarqawi's capture.