FBI Following Fewer Than a Dozen Terrorists
NewsMax Wires
Sunday, May 30, 2004
The FBI is actively following only a dozen or fewer al-Qaida terrorist suspects believed to be in the U.S., the New York Times reported Sunday.
The paper said that evidence cited by Attorney General John Aschroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller at their press conference Wednesday indicated that al-Qaida was "almost ready to attack the United States" – was vague and less than substantative.
Information gathered by the paper from federal sources found:
The FBI is following only a handful of potential terrorists. "The number is believed to be small, perhaps no more than a dozen," the paper said.
The FBI still has an unclear view of how al-Qaida operates in the U.S., but believes its agents may operate under two plans. The terrorist group either sends agents into the U.S. before a major operation, as it did before Sept. 11. The second method may use sleepers, "terrorists who live somewhere quietly for a long period, waiting to be summoned to carry out an attack."
None of the seven people identified at the Aschcroft/Mueller press conference is believed to be in the U.S.
The terrorists are morphing to confuse law enforcement agencies. The FBI believes terrorists may pose as "Europeans ... who might try to conceal their purpose."
The intelligence suggesting an imminent attack was "received in the last six weeks" and "had indicated broadly that Al Qaeda hoped to launch an attack in this country later this summer." Previous reports of a similar nature have been found to be baseless in the past.
The Madrid bombings. While intelligence agencies discovered little "chatter" before the train bombings, they did detect significant chatter after the attacks.
"After the attack, officials said that they detected chatter, a term referring to communications monitored by intelligence agencies, indicating that extremists were surprised by the political impact of the bombings, which helped topple the Spanish government. Al Qaeda regarded the attacks in Spain as a success that could be repeated in the United States."
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