FBI studies US contacts by al-Qaeda (operative "contacted" someone this yr

[papau]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-08-05-alert_x.htm

FBI studies U.S. contacts by al-Qaeda (operative "contacted" someone this year)
By Kevin Johnson and Mimi Hall, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — A captured al-Qaeda operative whose computer files described surveillance of key U.S. financial centers contacted people in the USA as recently as this year, two U.S. officials with knowledge of counterterrorism efforts said Wednesday.

Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, an al-Qaeda computer expert who was arrested July 13 in Lahore, Pakistan, also is believed to have connections with unidentified operatives who could be planning pre-election attacks in the USA, said the officials, who may not discuss such matters publicly.

The officials would not say how many people in the USA were contacted by Khan, 25. It also was unclear whether those he contacted were al-Qaeda operatives or unwitting associates of the suspected terrorist. But the officials said the FBI is examining whether the communication was part of an al-Qaeda effort — described in separate intelligence made public in April — to disrupt the Nov. 2 elections.

The officials said the communication from Khan — along with files on his computer that indicated al-Qaeda had done surveillance on five U.S. financial institutions dating to before the 9/11 attacks, and separate streams of intelligence that suggested threats to the USA — led to the terrorism alert announced Sunday for New York City, Newark, N.J., and Washington.
<snip>

U.S. officials still say they have no evidence an attack is imminent. But with the Bush administration facing questions about whether the alert was based on dated evidence of al-Qaeda surveillance, officials are giving a fuller picture of the factors behind the alert.<snip>

[aquart]

1. They don't know who he spoke to?

[BJ]

2. How 'bout Katherine Harris?

Campaiging in central Florida the other day Harris said,"...that a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested in the plot and that explosives were found in his home in Carmel, a suburb north of Indianapolis."

Today she's saying, ""I regret that I had no knowledge of the sensitive nature of this situation."

She's an al Qaeda mole, I tell ya.

[pschoeb]

3. Strangly they know who he spoke to in Britain, but I guess not here

from CNN story

"In Britain, police questioned 12 men Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities. They were arrested Tuesday as a result of information that Pakistani authorities said they shared with their British counterparts.

British police declined to confirm how they learned of the dozen suspects, but senior Pakistani intelligence officials said Khan told interrogators that there was a terror cell in Britain and that he frequently relayed messages from Pakistan to its leader."

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/08/04/terror.threat/index.html

Makes you wonder why there have been no reported arrests in the US