US intelligence officials have warned members of Congress it is highly probable that militants linked to Osama bin Laden will attempt another major attack on American targets at home or abroad in the near future, the Washington Post reported yesterday.
The threat assessment, based on what officials described as credible new information, was presented at a classified briefing Tuesday by officials from the FBI, the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Post said.
One official said there was a "100 percent chance" of an attack should the US strike Afghanistan, which has repeatedly rejected US demands to hand over bin Laden -- the man Washington blames for the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on New York and Washington.
One senior official said some of the new information is "very real," but also cautioned that some may be braggadocio or intentional disinformation designed to discourage the US from retaliating, the Post said.
The US has been massing military forces in the Gulf region and has warned Afghanistan it faces possible strikes if bin Laden is not turned over.
The new information comes from sources in England, Germany, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and officials believe Egyptian, Somali and Pakistani elements of bin Laden's al-Qaeda extremist network may be involved, the newspaper said.
Members of congressional intelligence committees declined to comment on the briefings, which are classified. But the Post reported that officials at the White House, the Justice Department and State Department have been discussing the best way to convey the new concern to the public.
Attorney-General John Ashcroft said on Sunday the government foresaw "substantial risks" of further attacks on the US after the Sept. 11 strikes, which left more than 5,700 people reported dead or missing.
Still, senior US officials led by President George W. Bush have also repeatedly urged Americans to resume normal activities such as air travel, which was virtually brought to a halt.
"We have to believe there will be another attempt by a terrorist group to hit us again," Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told the Post. "You can just about bet on it. That's just something you have to believe will happen."
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