The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a bulletin warning that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network may pursue "spectacular attacks" with "high symbolic value" in the United States.
"In selecting its next targets, sources suggest al-Qaeda may favor spectacular attacks that meet several criteria: high symbolic value, mass casualties, severe damage to the US economy and maximum psychological trauma," the FBI said in a bulletin issued last night and posted on the Internet today.
"The highest-priority targets remain within the aviation, petroleum and nuclear sectors, as well as significant national landmarks," it added.
The bulletin came just three days after Qatar's satellite television network Al-Jazeera aired an audiotape in which the speaker - widely believed to be bin Laden - talks of Iraq's suffering and praises recent attacks in the Middle East, Russia and Southeast Asia aimed at the United States and its allies.
"Based on the release of the audiotape, intelligence reporting, a resurgence of al-Qaeda operational activity and what is known about al-Qaeda's modus operandi, the NIPC (National Infrastructure Protection Center) is notifying Information Bulletin recipients of possible attacks in the United States," the FBI division said.
"Due in part to the lack of specificity of method, location and timing, the Homeland Security Advisory System threat level will remain at yellow (elevated) at this time," the FBI noted in the statement.
The five-level color-coded warning system - instituted in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States for which bin Laden has claimed responsibility - ranges from green, or "low," to red, or "severe." Yellow, or "elevated," falls in the middle of the scale.
AFP