Warning against N.Y. landmarks came from top bin Laden lieutenant

By Donna De La Cruz

Associated Press

NEW YORK – A top lieutenant to Osama bin Laden is the source of information that led to a warning of potential terrorist attacks against the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, a law enforcement official said Thursday.

The official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said the information, which has been described as uncorroborated, came from Abu Zubaydah, the senior al-Qaida terrorist leader now in U.S. custody.

Zubaydah’s role in the terrorism warning was first reported in the Daily News.

Zubaydah is being interrogated by U.S. officials at an undisclosed location. He is believed to have played a key role in organizing the Sept. 11 attacks as al-Qaida’s top operational planner.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday that the detainee who gave FBI officials the information has provided authorities with credible information in the past, but would not discuss what information the detainee had given.

The FBI said the New York warning was not specific about timing or methods.

Authorities canceled a 119th birthday celebration for the Brooklyn Bridge because of the possible threat.

“We could not even contemplate finalizing our plans … because of the concerns that have been raised,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, whose office had been planning the June 2 event.

As al-Qaida’s top operational planner, Abu Zubaydah ran the Khalden camp in Afghanistan, where U.S. investigators have learned many of the Sept. 11 hijackers trained. This suggests Abu Zubaydah may have had direct contact with the hijackers and chosen them for training.

He also had telephone contacts with at least one student at U.S. flight schools, according to a July 10, 2001, memo from a Phoenix FBI agent.

The CIA, FBI and Pakistani authorities captured and wounded Abu Zubaydah in a raid by in Faisalabad, Pakistan, in March. He is believed to have masterminded the failed millennium bombing plots in Los Angeles and Jordan, and has been linked to failed plots on the U.S. embassies in Paris and Sarajevo.

Abu Zubaydah was also indirectly linked, through a web of associations with other al-Qaida members in Europe, to lead Sept. 11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and his cell in Hamburg, Germany. Three members of the Hamburg cell were suicide hijackers; three others are still at large.

Kelly said the city remained on the same heightened alert status on which it has been since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Fleet Week, an annual maritime celebration expected to draw 6,000 naval personnel to the city, was to go on as planned during the Memorial Day weekend.

A warning earlier this week from federal authorities that terrorists could be renting apartments to blow up the buildings prompted Los Angeles authorities to issue guidelines Thursday telling landlords how to spot potential terrorists. Warning signs included little or no rental history or tenants who are rarely at the apartment or carry unusual items or boxes with extreme caution.

However, police warned they do not want landlords to engage in housing discrimination. “We’re hoping people will exercise good judgment and not base renting decisions only on a person looking like they’re of Middle Eastern descent,” police spokesman Sgt. John Pasquariello said.