U.S.

Bin Laden Bomb Plot Confirmed

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 21, 2000 / 9:00 AM EST / CBS

February 21, 2000 - U.S. officials have sensitive intelligence information that connects a bomb plot foiled just before New Year's Day to Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, a published report said Monday.

The Washington Post, citing sources familiar with the investigation, said officials based their conclusion on information from confidential informants with direct knowledge of the bomb plot and bin Laden's organization.

They also relied on data shared by foreign police and intelligence officials, the monitoring of domestic telephone conversations and other forms of electronic eavesdropping.

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including the FBI and the CIA, have been analyzing vast amounts of data collected since Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian citizen, was arrested in mid-December attempting to enter the United States from Canada. Ressam, 32, arrived in a rental car filled with bomb-making materials and timing devices.

They are working closely with intelligence and law enforcement officials in Canada and the Middle East.

On Sunday, a man whose brother-in-law is a top lieutenant in bin Laden's al Qaeda organization, and who U.S. officials suspect played a role in the bomb plot, was released after several weeks in detention in Mauritania.

Mohambedou Ould Slahi had been in Canada but left for his home in Mauritania because of the probe into bin Laden's alleged ties to the bomb plot. He was questioned at length by Mauritanian officials, who let him go after he repeatedly denied any connection with the plot, the paper said.

Jordan on Thursday charged 14 followers of bin Laden and members of the al-Qaeda organization with planning "terrorist" attacks and said it would try them in March. They were arrested in December and had confessed to the charges, it said.

Bin Laden, who is based in Afghanistan, is wanted by the United States for allegedly causing explosions at two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 which killed more than 200 people.

The Post said FBI agents in Mauritania were permitted to submit questions, review Slahi's answers and work closely with Mauritanian officials on his interrogation. Slahi continues to be monitored by U.S. officials and others engaged in the fight against terrorism, sources told the paper.

"The fact of the matter is that when he arrived in Canada in late November, we believe that led to a number of activities undertaken by the people in the (terrorist) cell," the Post quoted a U.S. official as saying.

"We have strong indications that he did play a role in the bomb plot. He has ties that lead us to believe he is someone of significance. He is not at a low-level," the official said. "Now that he has been identified, he will be someone who will be watched."

Slahi did not admit to any role in the bomb plot during that questioning, sources told the Post.

"Slahi and his role underscores that the web of the al-Qaeda network is ncreasing," a U.S. official said.

U.S. officials also said they have discovered through their massive probe that a significant number of Islamic terrorists are concealing their activities and sources of funds by using charitable organizations as fronts.

Since many of these charities do substantial community service work, investigating them is not easy and can subject the FBI or foreign law enforcement authorities to allegations of targeting religious or ethnic groups, sources said.