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http://www.thescotsman.co.uk/international.cfm?id=1248792002
Bin Laden plans major attacks, Interpol warns
AL-QAEDA militants seem to be preparing simultaneous attacks in several countries including the United States, the head of Interpol said in a newspaper interview published yesterday.
Without saying an attack was imminent, Interpol’s secretary general, Ronald Noble, told the Paris daily Le Figaro that recent intelligence suggested it was gearing up for the attacks.
Mr Noble also said he thought that Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda, was alive, even though nobody has been able to track him down.
"Something worrying is going on," he said. "All intelligence experts are agreed that al-Qaeda is preparing a major terrorist operation, simultaneous attacks that would not target the United States alone but several countries at the same time.
"The field of battle now stretches to all countries and mobilises several terrorist groups," he said.
Mr Noble, the first American to head the France-based operation that co-ordinates international crime fighting, said that, despite some successes in cracking down on militant groups, particularly in Europe, the risk of attacks was as real as ever.
"I would say that the risk today is at least as important as before 11 September. Sleeping cells remain in place, unknown to the police, but ready to act from one day to another," he said.
Mr Noble is the latest of a number of security experts to have said recently they think bin Laden escaped US bombing last year of his former hideout in Afghanistan.
"Osama bin Laden is alive," he said. "Despite intensive searches, we have not managed to locate him.
"But until someone can prove to me the contrary, I consider Osama bin Laden a fugitive who is alive," he said.
Mr Noble said bin Laden’s funding had been left intact by efforts to crack down on the financing of militant groups.
"Osama bin Laden is a multimillionaire. He was hugely rich before 11 September and he still is today." Mr Nobel said, estimating his fortune at between $280-$300 million, much of which was held in cash.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is sending an estimated 1,000 more US troops to help track down al-Qaeda members around the Horn of Africa, where the year-long war on terrorism has produced few visible results.
The troops could launch missions to catch terrorists in vast, lawless areas of the region even without permission from local governments, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
"There may be circumstances where we go into an ungoverned area in pursuit of al-Qaeda, and I’ll just leave it at that," Victoria Clarke said. The amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney will be used as a floating headquarters off Djibouti, manned with US marines who will co-ordinate military operations in the African region.
The Americans will join a multinational force of thousands in Africa - including some who have been trying to catch terrorists there since al-Qaeda members began fleeing Afghanistan a year ago.
Bin Laden plans major attacks, Interpol warns
AL-QAEDA militants seem to be preparing simultaneous attacks in several countries including the United States, the head of Interpol said in a newspaper interview published yesterday.
Without saying an attack was imminent, Interpol’s secretary general, Ronald Noble, told the Paris daily Le Figaro that recent intelligence suggested it was gearing up for the attacks.
Mr Noble also said he thought that Osama bin Laden, the head of al-Qaeda, was alive, even though nobody has been able to track him down.
"Something worrying is going on," he said. "All intelligence experts are agreed that al-Qaeda is preparing a major terrorist operation, simultaneous attacks that would not target the United States alone but several countries at the same time.
"The field of battle now stretches to all countries and mobilises several terrorist groups," he said.
Mr Noble, the first American to head the France-based operation that co-ordinates international crime fighting, said that, despite some successes in cracking down on militant groups, particularly in Europe, the risk of attacks was as real as ever.
"I would say that the risk today is at least as important as before 11 September. Sleeping cells remain in place, unknown to the police, but ready to act from one day to another," he said.
Mr Noble is the latest of a number of security experts to have said recently they think bin Laden escaped US bombing last year of his former hideout in Afghanistan.
"Osama bin Laden is alive," he said. "Despite intensive searches, we have not managed to locate him.
"But until someone can prove to me the contrary, I consider Osama bin Laden a fugitive who is alive," he said.
Mr Noble said bin Laden’s funding had been left intact by efforts to crack down on the financing of militant groups.
"Osama bin Laden is a multimillionaire. He was hugely rich before 11 September and he still is today." Mr Nobel said, estimating his fortune at between $280-$300 million, much of which was held in cash.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is sending an estimated 1,000 more US troops to help track down al-Qaeda members around the Horn of Africa, where the year-long war on terrorism has produced few visible results.
The troops could launch missions to catch terrorists in vast, lawless areas of the region even without permission from local governments, a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
"There may be circumstances where we go into an ungoverned area in pursuit of al-Qaeda, and I’ll just leave it at that," Victoria Clarke said. The amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney will be used as a floating headquarters off Djibouti, manned with US marines who will co-ordinate military operations in the African region.
The Americans will join a multinational force of thousands in Africa - including some who have been trying to catch terrorists there since al-Qaeda members began fleeing Afghanistan a year ago.
