Pat Dollard

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Background: CIA: NY/DC 9-11 Terror Threat Involves “Dirty” Nuclear Bomb

WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. intelligence agencies have found no evidence that al-Qaida has sneaked any terrorists into the country for a strike coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, senior officials said Saturday.

Since late Wednesday, counterterrorism officials have chased a tip that al-Qaida may have sent three men to the U.S. on a mission to detonate a car bomb or “dirty” nuclear device in either city. At least two of those men could be U.S. citizens, according to the tip.

Intelligence analysts have looked at travel patterns and behaviors of people who recently entered the country. While they have singled out a few people for additional scrutiny, none has shown any involvement in a plot, according to the senior U.S. officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the investigation.

President Barack Obama met with his national security team Saturday, but the White House released no new information about possible threats. A statement said that counterterrorism efforts were working well and would not ease in the weeks and months ahead.

The tip that touched off the most recent investigation came from a CIA informant who has proved reliable in the past, according to U.S. officials. They said the informant approached intelligence officials overseas to say that the men were ordered by new al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 by doing harm on U.S. soil.

He took over as the group’s leader after the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden during a raid in May at his compound in Pakistan.

The informant said the would-be attackers were of Arab descent and might speak Arabic as well as English. Counterterrorism officials were looking for certain names associated with the threat.