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Extremists Warn of Anti-U.S. Attacks
Monday, July 22, 2002
By Kathy Gannon
Associated Press Writer

Said-Rahman said the attack would be in response to a death sentence handed down last week to Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, convicted in the kidnap-slaying of Pearl, the Wall Street Journal correspondent who disappeared in Karachi on Jan. 23 while researching the Muslim extremist underground.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- AP
A former Taliban commander says Islamic militants led by al-Qaeda want to strike quickly against American interests in Pakistan in retaliation for the death sentence in the Daniel Pearl murder case and the ongoing crackdown on Muslim extremists.

Fazul Rabi Said-Rahman, once the top Taliban military commander in eastern Afghanistan, said it was important to the militants to act quickly because Pakistani security forces were stepping up pressure on Taliban and al-Qaeda members who fled the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.

"There will be another big attack in Pakistan, and it will happen soon," he said Friday.

Said-Rahman predicted the attack would be carried out by Pakistani militants at the instructions of al-Qaeda operatives. But he would not discuss details except to say the attack would be carried out in a Pakistani city.
(More: The Orlando Sentinel News Source)
2002 © The Associated Press.

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