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Source: Yahoo News
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), believed to be hiding along the Afghanistan (news - web sites)-Pakistan border, is directing an al Qaeda effort to launch an attack in the United States sometime this year, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
"What we know about this most recent information is that it is being directed from the seniormost levels of the al Qaeda organization," the newspaper quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying at a briefing for reporters.
"We know that this leadership continues to operate along the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan," the official said, according to the Times.
It does not appear that bin Laden is trying to take an active leadership role in formulating a specific plan, as he did in preparations for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the newspaper said, citing an administration official.
There is evidence bin Laden is able to communicate with his followers, urging them to carry out operations in the name of al Qaeda, the official said, according to the newspaper.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned Americans that al Qaeda may try to carry out a large-scale attack to disrupt the November elections, but he did not offer details. Ridge said the warning was based on intelligence received from credible sources gathered over the past months.
The Times said it was not clear until the comments of the senior officials on Thursday that bin Laden and top deputies were responsible for the concern.
In discussing the latest threat information, one of the officials said the intelligence was "cryptic," about both timing and location, the newspaper said.
There is no specific reference to the coming U.S. political conventions in New York and Boston, but that remains an immediate focus of concern, the official said, according to the Times.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), believed to be hiding along the Afghanistan (news - web sites)-Pakistan border, is directing an al Qaeda effort to launch an attack in the United States sometime this year, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.
"What we know about this most recent information is that it is being directed from the seniormost levels of the al Qaeda organization," the newspaper quoted a senior Bush administration official as saying at a briefing for reporters.
"We know that this leadership continues to operate along the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan," the official said, according to the Times.
It does not appear that bin Laden is trying to take an active leadership role in formulating a specific plan, as he did in preparations for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the newspaper said, citing an administration official.
There is evidence bin Laden is able to communicate with his followers, urging them to carry out operations in the name of al Qaeda, the official said, according to the newspaper.
On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned Americans that al Qaeda may try to carry out a large-scale attack to disrupt the November elections, but he did not offer details. Ridge said the warning was based on intelligence received from credible sources gathered over the past months.
The Times said it was not clear until the comments of the senior officials on Thursday that bin Laden and top deputies were responsible for the concern.
In discussing the latest threat information, one of the officials said the intelligence was "cryptic," about both timing and location, the newspaper said.
There is no specific reference to the coming U.S. political conventions in New York and Boston, but that remains an immediate focus of concern, the official said, according to the Times.
