Documents reveal plan to derail train in US
Source: Agencies |
May 7, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
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HOLED up in a compound in Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was scheming how to hit the United States hard again, according to newly uncovered documents that show al-Qaida plans for derailing a train on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Details of the plan emerged on Thursday as some of the first intelligence gleaned from the trove of information found in bin Laden's residence after Navy SEALs killed the al-Qaida leader and four of his associates. They took his body and scooped up computers, DVDs and documents from the compound where US officials think he had been living for up to six years.
The materials reveal the rail attack planning as of February 2010. One idea, outlined in handwritten notes, was to tamper with an unspecified US rail track so that a train would fall off at a valley or a bridge.
US counterterrorism officials said they believe the plot was only in the initial planning stages, and there is no recent intelligence about any active plan for such an attack.
Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said: "This alleged al-Qaida plotting is based on initial reporting, which is often misleading or inaccurate and subject to change."
He said the government had no plans to issue an official terror alert because of it.
However, the FBI and Homeland Security issued an intelligence bulletin with details of the plan to law enforcement around the country.
Other intelligence pulled from the compound represented a terrorist wish list but has revealed no specific plan so far. Some documents indicated a desire to strike the US with large-scale attacks in major cities and on key dates such as anniversaries and holidays. But there was no sign those were anything more than ambitions, said a US official.
Intelligence officials had been warning for years that al-Qaida was interested in attacking major US cities on prominent dates on the American calendar.
Meanwhile, the New York Times and Washington Post reported that a CIA surveillance team had been watching bin Laden's residence for months. The agency declined to comment.
Details of the plan emerged on Thursday as some of the first intelligence gleaned from the trove of information found in bin Laden's residence after Navy SEALs killed the al-Qaida leader and four of his associates. They took his body and scooped up computers, DVDs and documents from the compound where US officials think he had been living for up to six years.
The materials reveal the rail attack planning as of February 2010. One idea, outlined in handwritten notes, was to tamper with an unspecified US rail track so that a train would fall off at a valley or a bridge.
US counterterrorism officials said they believe the plot was only in the initial planning stages, and there is no recent intelligence about any active plan for such an attack.
Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said: "This alleged al-Qaida plotting is based on initial reporting, which is often misleading or inaccurate and subject to change."
He said the government had no plans to issue an official terror alert because of it.
However, the FBI and Homeland Security issued an intelligence bulletin with details of the plan to law enforcement around the country.
Other intelligence pulled from the compound represented a terrorist wish list but has revealed no specific plan so far. Some documents indicated a desire to strike the US with large-scale attacks in major cities and on key dates such as anniversaries and holidays. But there was no sign those were anything more than ambitions, said a US official.
Intelligence officials had been warning for years that al-Qaida was interested in attacking major US cities on prominent dates on the American calendar.
Meanwhile, the New York Times and Washington Post reported that a CIA surveillance team had been watching bin Laden's residence for months. The agency declined to comment.
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