FBI alert: Attack could be imminent

Information from Guantanamo and Afghanistan prompts warning

ERIC LICHTBLAU, LOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON -- The FBI warned Monday night that a suspected terrorist from Yemen and more than a dozen associates could be planning an attack against Americans as early as today.

The FBI identified the main suspect as Fawaz Yahya Al-Rabeei, a Yemeni national born in Saudi Arabia in 1979.

The alert said an attack could occur in the United States or against U.S. interests in Yemen. It was the most specific of the four alerts the FBI has issued since Sept. 11.

"The credibility of the threat on this one appears a little stronger than the previous alerts," said a law enforcement official who requested anonymity. "But we don't have information on any specific targets."

The alert was triggered by information gathered at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, where U.S. authorities have been interviewing al-Qaida operatives, and in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military has been sifting through material left in the rubble by al-Qaida forces, law enforcement officials said.

A detainee recently flown to Guantanamo Bay from Afghanistan told American investigators about someone in Afghanistan whose brother mentioned "an imminent attack on the 12th," said a U.S. official who asked not to be identified.

The alert, issued to 18,000 law enforcement agencies and the public at large, read: "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 02/12/02. One or more operatives may be involved in the attack."

Al-Rabeei's whereabouts are unknown, and law enforcement officials said he is not believed to have shown up on any of the watch lists the FBI and other agencies have been using to track suspects since Sept. 11.

At the center of the FBI alert is Al-Rabeei, who might also use the name Furqan or numerous other aliases. He and as many as 16 associates are considered "extremely dangerous," the FBI said, urging local police to be on the lookout for any members of the group.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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