US President George W. Bush's Aug. 6, 2001, daily intelligence briefing included information from three months beforehand that al-Qaeda members were trying to enter the US for an attack with explosives, sources familiar with the document said on Friday.
The document gave neither a time nor a suspected target for such an attack, the sources said. They said the information was based on a May 2001 intelligence report that suggested followers of Osama bin Laden wanted to cross from Canada into the US.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice has described the President's Daily Brief of Aug. 6, 2001, as mostly a historical document. The sources said the report did include historical information citing al-Qaeda's desire to attack domestic US targets dating to 1997.
Democratic members of the bipartisan commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks demanded on Thursday that the Aug. 6, 2001, document be released to help them with their probe. They questioned whether Bush could have done more to stop the attacks based on the memo.
The White House is working with the CIA and other agencies to declassify the intelligence memo, a highly unusual if not unprecedented public release of secret presidential intelligence briefing documents.
White House officials refused to discuss the sensitive, page-and-a-half document in any way because it was still classified. It could be released as early as today in Washington, and will likely intensify the debate over whether the Sept. 11 attacks could have been prevented.
Parts of the document were disclosed during Rice's testimony to the commission on Thursday. It is entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Inside the United States."
Commissioner Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic senator, said it appeared the classified memo hinted at a possible hijacking.
"This is what the Aug. 6 memo said to the president -- that the FBI indicates patterns of suspicious activity, and I'd say it's consistent with preparations for hijacking," Kerrey said.
The sources familiar with the document said it advised Bush that at least 70 terrorism-related investigations were under way by the FBI in 2001.
Democratic commissioners demanded to know why the document was not seen as a warning of the attacks little more than a month later when al-Qaeda hijackers crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon and seized another that appeared headed toward Washington but crashed in Pennsylvania.
Rice said the memo referred to uncorroborated reporting from 1998 that a terrorist might try to hijack a US aircraft and blackmail the government.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
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