WASHINGTON (REUTERS) — A terror attack on the United States or against U.S. interests in Yemen is possible as early as Tuesday in a plot believed to be led by a Saudi-born Yemeni man, the FBI said Monday.
In the most specific alert about possible attacks that the FBI has issued since the Sept. 11 strikes on America, the bureau said evidence an attack may be imminent emerged from interrogations of prisoners captured in the Afghan war.
“Recent information indicates a planned attack may occur in the United States or against U.S. interests in the country of Yemen on or around Feb. 12, 2002,” the FBI said.
While mentioning the names and nationalities of the “extremely dangerous” suspects, the alert did not specify possible targets.
The FBI said one or more operatives may be involved in the strike and named a suspected ringleader: Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, born in 1979, identified as a Yemeni man who also has a number of aliases.
The alert listed more than a dozen aliases for al-Rabeei, including “Furqan,” and said he may be traveling on a Yemeni passport. It is not known whether he is in the United States or abroad, the statement said.
Seeking public help
Photographs of the faces of the suspected ringleader and a dozen associates were posted on the FBI’s Web site [http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/seekinfo/temp021102.htm] asking for the public’s help in locating them.
Al-Rabeei, identified in the caption by one of his aliases, “Al-Rabi’i,” had a neat, full beard and dark hair with a slightly curly fringe. Most of the others also appeared to be young men and had neatly trimmed beards.
The fourth alert issued since the September attacks blamed on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network also named 16 possible associates of al-Rabeei, saying most of them were Yemeni nationals but a few may be Saudi or Tunisian.
The FBI alert did not specifically link the alleged plot to the al Qaeda guerrilla network.
The FBI said it sent its alert to law enforcement agencies around the United States and the world. “Law enforcement officers are requested to stop and detain these individuals and to contact the FBI for further guidance,” the statement said.
The Bush administration, which launched a military campaign in Afghanistan in response to the September attacks, has said it believes al Qaeda has “sleeper cells” in the United States.
U.S. law enforcement authorities have detained hundreds of people suspected to be linked to al Qaeda with the stated goal of disrupting possible planned attacks by a network that is believed to operate out of about 60 nations.
“Secondhand information”
A U.S. intelligence official who requested anonymity told Reuters, “A detainee passed secondhand information on about a possible threat to U.S. interests, but he was unclear whether it was in the United States or in Yemen.”
The United States currently is holding 254 captives from the war in Afghanistan — identified as members of al Qaeda or the toppled Taliban regime — at the U.S. Navy Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The captives are being questioned by U.S. authorities.
U.S. interests have been targeted with destructive effect in recent years in Yemen, a poor Arab nation located at the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula.
In 2000, two suicide bombers blew a hole in the side of the guided missile destroyer USS Cole during a port call in Aden, Yemen, killing 17 U.S. sailors.
The United States has called bin Laden a key suspect in the Cole bombing.
Yemen has become an increasing focus of U.S. efforts to pursue al Qaeda members outside Afghanistan.
Yemen, in December, began a hunt for suspected militants linked to bin Laden.
A Yemeni official told Reuters last week Yemen had sent a team of investigators to the United States to help interrogate Yemenis captured in Afghanistan. At that time, 17 Yemenis were reported to be among the captives being held in Cuba.
On Feb. 6, CIA Director George Tenet told the Senate Intelligence Committee attacks on American targets could be launched by al Qaeda cells already in major cities in Europe and the Middle East, and the network could exploit connections to other groups in countries including Yemen.
The FBI has issued three previous terror alerts, Oct. 11, Oct. 29 and Dec. 3. No previous FBI alert has specified the nationalities or names of suspects plotting possible attacks.
The FBI has been criticized for raising alarm by issuing warnings perceived not to be specific enough to help Americans or law enforcement officers actually be on alert.
