Military

DATE=05/20/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= TERROR WARNINGS (L)

NUMBER=2-289998

BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: There are new warnings about the possibility of more terrorist attacks against the United States. A day after Vice-president Dick Cheney told Americans to be prepared for another major attack, comes another warning from the F-B-I. Corespondent Nick Simeone tells us more.

TEXT: It's inevitable that the kind of suicide bombings that have rocked Israel for months will eventually strike the United States. That warning from F-B-I Director Robert Mueller who told a gathering of prosecuting attorneys Monday "I wish I could be more optimistic."

A further warning came from Senate intelligence committee chairman Bob Graham who told N-B-C groups that have claimed responsibility for those attacks in the Middle East could be planning to strike American targets.

/// GRAHAM ACT ///

They are the familiar names, mainly in the Middle East. Groups like Hezbollah, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad would be two of the principle groups in addition to al-Qaida who have capabilities and the desire to strike America. It probably won't be in the form of hijacked airplanes and hopefully not at the scale of September 11th but another terrorist attack inside the United States is almost a certainty.

/// END ACT ///

Why these new warnings? Senior U-S officials have pointed in recent days to what they say is a sharp increase in intelligence, including intercepted al-Qaida messages -- chatter as they call it -- suggesting the U-S war on terrorism is far from being won.

Counter-terrorism consultant Neal Livingstone...

/// END ACT ///

Chatter refers to intercepts that have been done generally by the National Security Administration or N-S-A where they basically monitor communications around the world and what they're seeing apparently is an increase in communications among various known al-Qaida fronts or sources or individuals in various countries. And secondly, it may be also predicated upon the interrogation of various al-Qaida and Taleban prisoners.

/// END ACT ///

U-S officials say the increase in intelligence is similar to what they saw in the months before September 11th but -- like then as well -- too vague to predict when or where a new attack might take place.

Still, Congress is preparing to investigate whether the C-I-A, F-B-I and other intelligence agencies may have misread warning signs or failed to act on information however imprecise -- that could have foreshadowed the worst terrorist attacks on the United States ever. (SIGNED)

NEB/NJS/RH