Military

DATE=4/20/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN / AL-QAIDA / THREAT (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-288932

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

INTRO: British military officials in Afghanistan say they believe Osama

bin Laden's al-Qaida network is planning suicide attacks on foreign troops providing security in the country and against the Afghan interim administration. V-O-A's Alisha Ryu has details from the coalition air base in Bagram.

TEXT: British Army spokesman, Tom Rounds, says intelligence gathered over

the past two weeks strongly suggest that al-Qaida terrorists are scheming to

enter coalition military bases and government installations by posing as

journalists, a tactic used to kill former Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Masood.

/// FIRST ROUNDS ACT ///

If you recall, Masood was killed by a suicide bomber with a camera. And

current intelligence indicates that is highly likely one of the ways they

will try to infiltrate.

/// END ACT ///

Two days before the September terrorists attacks in the United States, two

men - posing as a Belgian television crew - detonated a bomb in front of

Ahmed Shah Massood, the former mujahedin leader and revered commander of the anti-taleban Northern Alliance. The attackers are believed to have been

al-Qaida members sent to deal a blow to the Northern Alliance command

structure.

Squadron Leader Rounds says while last month's U-S-led military operation

may have fractured the terrorist network's fighting force in the mountains

of eastern Afghanistan, the organization still has cells in various places

around the country.

/// SECOND ROUNDS ACT ///

What we're seeing and experiencing out there are smaller bands of fighters

moving out and being engaged. We need to be on our guard. It is a very real threat.

/// END ACT ///

Coalition officials believe the former king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, could

also be a target of an al-Qaida attack. Zahir Shah returned to Afghanistan

two days ago from nearly 30 years in exile - primarily to open the grand

council meeting - the Loya Jirga - in June to select a new government.

Opponents of the Loya Jirga have reportedly made death threats against the

former monarch, who has become a symbol of Afghan unity.

All journalists in Afghanistan are now subject to intense scrutiny and must

carry proper identification with them at all times. Americans in

Afghanistan have also been warned that al-Qaida has renewed its offer to pay

a 50-thousand dollar reward for every American captured alive. It will pay

30-thousand dollars for every Westerner who is killed.

In Kabul, gunmen again targeted international peacekeepers during a routine

patrol. Spokesmen for I-SAF - as the peacekeeping force is known - say four

men fired on French peacekeepers Friday night near the airport - leaving one

soldier slightly wounded. The gunmen escaped.

I-SAF - in recent weeks - has been the target of multiple shootings and a

rocket attack. It is not clear who was behind the latest attack, but

peacekeepers believe common criminals and opponents of the political process

in Afghanistan are responsible for the on-going security problems in the

capital. (Signed)

NEB/AR/KBK