Amid fears of an imminent Islamist attack, the Bush administration has tried to energize the hunt for terrorists by reissuing old details about two Canadians thought to have trained as pilots.
The two are among a group of seven people being sought by U.S. authorities who say that terrorists could be planning a major attack “within months.”
The suspects – six men and a woman – pose a “clear and present danger” to the United States in the lead-up to the presidential election in November, U.S. Attorney-General John Ashcroft told reporters in Washington.
Two of the suspects were identified by Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller as Canadians. According to FBI information, they are 38-year-old Abderraouf Jdey, born in Tunisia, and 41-year-old Amer El-Maati, born in Kuwait.
A New York City police officer stands guard in Times Square on Wednesday. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“Abderraouf Jdey appears in a martyrdom video that was seized in Afghanistan,” Mr. Mueller said. “His tape and the tape of four others is the last will and testament of five possible jihad martyrs. He was reportedly selected to get flight training in preparation for a second attack in the United States.”
Mr. Mueller described Mr. El-Maati as “an al-Qaeda member and a licensed pilot” and said that he is believed to have discussed hijacking a plane in Canada and flying it into a building in the United States.
Public Security Minister Anne McLellan, speaking to reporters outside her constituency office in Edmonton, said that there is no intelligence suggesting a threat to Canada.
“It is not known the whereabouts of any of the seven, but we have no reason to believe they are in Canada,” she said.
The disclosure that Canadians are posing a risk to the United States should not hinder the “seamless” relationship between the countries, she added, pointing out that one of the other suspects was born in the United States.
“This is not about nationality, this is about people who, in this context, have been described as constituting a clear and present danger to the United States of America. Their nationality is irrelevant.”
There are no immediate plans in Washington to raise the terror-threat warning level, but administration officials are concerned about several high-profile targets that are coming up, including the G8 meeting and the nomination conventions of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
By drawing new attention to suspected terrorists that the FBI has been pursuing for months, Wednesday's announcement re-focused U.S. attention on terrorism – President George W. Bush's strong suit in the November election. But Mr. Ashcroft rejected the suggestion that the announcement was timed to deflect attention from problems in Iraq.
He said that the threat had been substantiated by multiple sources.
“Credible intelligence ... indicates that al-Qaeda intends to attack the United States within the next few months,” he told the Washington press briefing. “I don't think my job is to worry about what skeptics think.”
Mr. Mueller said that law-enforcement officials do not know where or when terrorists plan to strike.
“For the next few months we have reason to believe that there will be a heightened threat to United States interests around the world,” Mr. Mueller said. “Each of these individuals is known to have a desire and the ability to undertake planning and facilitation [of] an attack against the United States.”
Mr. Ashcroft said that the public should be on the lookout for the seven suspects, who he described as armed and dangerous.
Also being sought are Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, 29, Adam Yahiye Gadahn, 26, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, age unknown, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, age unknown, and a woman named Aafia Siddiqui, 32.
A senior counterterrorism official told Associated Press that there is a “steady drumbeat” of information coming in that suggests that al-Qaeda will hit the United States “hard.”
The information is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks in September of 2001, the official said. It was described as extremely credible and backed by an unusually high level of corroboration.
