August 30, 2004 Bulletin

Captured terrorist reveals plots for future attacks against US interests

Mohammed Junaid Babar, a Pakistani-American, who was arrested in Queens, N.Y. last April for his possible associations with an al Qaeda cell in England, was helping finance a group of Pakistani terrorists in London and plotting a series of bombings and assassinations.

Babar was arrested by the FBI after British authorities alerted U.S. officials to Babar's possible connection to an alleged plot to carry out bombings in London similar to the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

The FBI is validating information received from Babar about alleged plans for future attacks and to identify any associates he may have in the United States.

Other warnings target US medical facilities and large companies

In another report, suspicious activities around VA medical facilities in Bethesda, MD and Aurora, CO, have raised an alert on VA hospitals around the country. The VA operates 163 hospitals in the US, with at least one in every mainland state. Apartment houses and hotels are also considered potential targets.

The new bulletin repeats a number of previously released indicators of possible terrorists carrying out surveillance. These include unusual interest in security measures or access points of buildings; operatives posing as what GGi calls the "invisible people", street vendors, food and flower merchants, etc. The bulletin also refers to the covert use of video cameras in areas not usually frequented by photographers or tourists and the stealthy observation of security drills.

Federal officials continue to warn that al-Qaida is likely to attempt an attack inside the United States before the Nov. 2 election. Counter-terrorism specialists are concerned at the lack of preparedness by the countries major companies.

Captured al-Qaida documents have indicated that the organization has been planning for possible strikes against financial interests in the US and a growing list of targets, gathered from diverse sources, includes a number of major corporations. Security is extremely tight for this week's Republican National Convention in New York.

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