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Terror Groups May Be Planning New Attacks, State Dept. Says

Tuesday, May 6, 2003
By Brian Knowlton
Tribune Writer

"Arrests of key figures, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, definitely disrupt attacks," said terror specialist Evan Kohlmann. He added that terrorist planning had been significantly disrupted in several countries, including an alleged plot to fly an airplane into the United States Consulate in Karachi. But such crackdowns can make other militants desperate, he said.

WASHINGTON -- IHT
The State Department said today that there was "credible information" that terrorist groups might be planning new attacks on American interests in the Middle East, though tensions had eased with the waning of the Iraq war.

It was a calibrated caution to Americans traveling or living abroad that while clear progress has been made in the fight against terrorism — and dramatically so against militants belonging to Al Qaeda — risks of terrorism have hardly vanished.

Counterterrorism specialists say they were surprised and heartened by the near-absence of major terror attacks in association with the Iraq war. There are substantial grounds to believe that Al Qaeda has been severely undercut since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States, they say.

But they, like the American and British governments, warn strongly against complacence, and note that terror groups often work on long, patient — but unpredictable — schedules.

The State Department repeated strong language similar to that in a worldwide caution issued April 21.

It warned that terrorists might mount suicide operations, stage bombings or kidnappings, and could use biological or chemical agents, though more likely conventional weapons.
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2003 © The International Herald Tribune.

Dan