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by Elaine Shannon
Abu Zubaydah --
The New York Times
The captured bin Laden
aide puts the FBI on alert again — this time over "soft targets"
Posted Saturday, May.
11, 2002
The FBI has issued
another alert about possible terrorism attacks, but this time quietly. Law
enforcement sources tell TIME that the bureau has sent word to its field
offices and 56 federal terrorism task forces that they should advise local
officials to tighten security around large apartment buildings, as well as
busy malls, supermarkets and restaurants. The alert is a response to
statements made by the same man whose words put U.S. banks on alert two
weeks ago — captured bin Laden aide Abu Zubaydah.
According to sources,
Zubaydah told interrogators that al-Qaeda operatives were discussing
attacks on "soft targets," meaning non-governmental buildings and places
where large numbers of Americans gather. Although investigators remain
leery of anything Zubaydah says, they don't want to discount his remarks
entirely. So, instead of issuing a public warning that might turn out to
be a false alarm, this time they passed the message along to local police
chiefs and mayors discreetly.
Meanwhile, the bureau
is about to send more agents to Spain, to help Spanish authorities pull
together tantalizing evidence of a thriving al-Qaeda network based there
prior to Sept. 11. For one thing, the FBI wants to determine exactly whom
9/11 ringleader Mohamed Atta met with when he visited Spain in July, 2001.
One person they suspect he may have linked up with is Ramzi Binalshibh, a
member of the Hamburg al-Qaeda cell and a former roommate of Atta's, who
visited Spain at the same time.
Binalshibh, a Yemeni
who sent money from Germany to 9/11 hijackers and also to accused
terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, hasn't been seen since he flew from Hamburg
to Madrid on Sept. 5. Investigators believe he made his way to the border
regions of Pakistan and is still hiding there. But if the FBI can
establish whether Binalshibh and Atta were in Spain together — and find
out who else was with them — they may be able to warm up the trail.
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