Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The FBI issued an extraordinary terrorist alert Monday night, asking law enforcement and the American public to be on the lookout for a Yemeni man and several associates who might be plotting a terrorist attack as early as today.
The FBI scrambled to put out the warning, its most specific since Sept. 11, after information emerged that one or more people were involved. Officials say the intelligence, while deemed credible, was not specific about possible targets.
The alert identified one possible attacker as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, a Yemeni national born in Saudi Arabia in 1979. It listed about a dozen associates of al-Rabeei, most from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. One associate was listed as possibly coming from Tunisia.
The bureau put photos and information on its Web site, www.fbi.gov, to help Americans identify the possible perpetrators.
"Recent information indicates a planned attack may occur in the United States or against U.S. interests on or around Feb. 12, 2002. One or more operatives may be involved in the attack," the alert to 18,000 law enforcement agencies said.
The alert asked police "to stop and detain" any of the named individuals in the alert and that all "should be considered extremely dangerous."
Law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alert was prompted by recent information from interviews of detainees in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where several al-Qaida operatives are being held.
Law enforcement officials said there was no evidence that al-Rabeei had entered the United States.
Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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