U.S. hunting for 7 'plotters'

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft cited "credible intelligence from multiple sources" Wednesday that indicates terrorists plan to "hit the United States hard" in the next few months. He said al-Qaida claims its preparations are 90 percent complete.

Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller unveiled photographs and information about seven people associated with al-Qaida whom they are seeking in connection with terrorist threats on U.S. soil. Six had been previously identified; the seventh, Adam Yahiye Gadahn, an American convert to Islam from the West Coast, had not been known before. "They all should be considered armed and dangerous," Ashcroft said, asking for "unprecedented" cooperation from local officials and citizens.

The other six were identified as Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani; Fazul Abdullah Mohammed; Amer El-Maati, a Canadian citizen and licensed pilot; Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani MIT-trained microbiologist; Abderraouf Jdey, a Canadian citizen with flight training; and Adnan G. El Shukrijumah.

Ashcroft said some of the suspects have spent time in the United States but added, "We are not able to say with certainty where they are at this particular time."

Federal officials are particularly concerned about the possibility of attacks on what Ashcroft called "attractive targets." They include Saturday's dedication of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, which is expected to draw about 125,000 people; a meeting of world economic leaders in Sea Island, Ga., June 8-10; the Democratic National Convention in Boston July 26-29, and the Republican National Convention in New York Aug. 30-Sept. 2.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge confirmed the new intelligence. "We have seen for the past several weeks a continuous stream of reporting that talks about the possibility of attacks on the United States," he said in an interview on NBC's "Today" show.

But Ridge said there are no plans to raise the national threat level from yellow, the middle level, to orange, indicating a high risk of attack. He said it was possible to step up security in specific regions of the country where the threat may be greatest, including the East and West coasts, without subjecting less- vulnerable locations to the same costly deployments.

Ashcroft noted that terrorists who bombed a train in Madrid in March took credit for the subsequent election of a Socialist government and the pullout of Spanish troops from Iraq. He said al- Qaida may hope an attack on U.S. soil this summer or fall would lead to similar consequences.

Each of the suspects, Ashcroft said, presents "a clear and present danger" to the United States because of their language skills, familiarity with U.S. culture and ability to travel under multiple aliases and use forged documents.

Ashcroft said that al-Qaida has made adjustments to its tactics to escape easy detection, such as having operatives travel with their families to lower their profiles and recruiting people who can pass for having European ethnicity rather than Middle Eastern backgrounds, as all of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers did.

"Al-Qaida is a resilient and adaptable organization, known for altering tactics in the face of new security measures," Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft acknowledged there is no new intelligence about the suspects indicating they are in the United States or part of a specific al-Qaida plot. He said it was important that the public be given "a reminder" about them.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that for "several months" the panel has been hearing reports about a new al-Qaida danger. While he agreed that the threat was serious, he questioned why the threat level wasn't being changed if new warnings were being made public.

"We'll never know if the administration has new and justifiable information for this new warning," Durbin said in an interview. "I think there's a building skepticism about warnings from the Bush administration."

Ashcroft sand Mueller insisted there was reason for concern, and said the summer could offer a number of inviting targets for al- Qaida.

The political repercussions from the March 11 train bombings in Spain, which contributed to defeat of the ruling party in subsequent elections, could embolden al-Qaida to try to influence U.S. elections through attacks here, Ashcroft said.

There is also concern about a number of high-profile summer events, beginning Saturday with dedication of the new World War II Memorial in Washington and next month's economic summit of the eight industrial powers, being held at Sea Island, Georgia. The Democratic and Republican conventions, in Boston and New York, also are potential targets.

One aspect of the law enforcement plan is to conduct interviews nationwide of people who could provide information about terrorist plans or suspects. Mueller said these would not necessarily be targeted at Arab-Americans or Muslims -- although the interviews could include many from those ethnic groups -- and would be driven by intelligence needs and information collected elsewhere.

Information being sought, he said, could include "persons that may have moved into a community recently, persons who seem to be in a community without any roots, persons that could be either facilitators or those who are willing to undertake an attack."

On the Net: Justice Department: www.usdoj.gov

FBI: www.fbi.gov

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