Report: Post-Sept. 11 Attack Was Planned
A U.S.-based cell of Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network nearly launched a post-Sept. 11 attack on a major target in Washington before going underground or fleeing the country, Newsweek reported Sunday.
The news magazine cited intelligence sources as saying an Al Qaeda “sleeper cell” in the United States was poised to launch the attack--perhaps against the U.S. Capitol.
In its Dec. 17 edition, Newsweek said the intelligence sources believed the FBI in its sweep against visa violators and other suspects of Middle Eastern backgrounds picked up members of a “support cell” assigned to provide logistics help to the people carrying out the mission.
The would-be attackers then went underground or fled the country, the sources said.
Investigators had not been able to identify the plotters from among the hundreds of people detained by the FBI and were not even sure they were still in custody, Newsweek reported.
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