Qaeda Video 'Threat' To U.S.

A shrouded man claiming to be an American member of al Qaeda promised attacks that will make U.S. streets "run red with blood" in a video aired Thursday night by ABC News.

Intelligence officials, however, have not been able to verify the tape's authenticity, and officials do not have information linking the video to a specific threat, said an intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

They also have not been able to positively identify the speaker.

"We remain concerned, however, about al Qaeda's interest in attacking the homeland," the official said.

Meanwhile, U.S. government officials say the level of information picked up about an election terror threat has ebbed recently, but they still believe the danger posed by al Qaeda has not waned.

Law enforcement authorities are making arrests and increasing surveillance, tracking several hundred people nationwide in a final push to break up any potential plots before Tuesday's elections or beyond.

In the 75-minute taped message, the speaker who identifies himself as "Azzam the American" praised the Sept. 11 attacks, called Osama bin Laden and his deputy his leaders, and said a new wave of attacks could come at any moment.

On the tape, the speaker says: "Allah willing, the streets of America will run red with blood, matching drop for drop the blood of America's victims."

The speaker, who wore a headdress that covered his face except for his eyes, claims the United States is his country of origin but does not say specifically where he lives. He speaks both Arabic and English with an international accent that is hard to characterize, the intelligence official said.

The video appears to have been released by al Qaeda's media organization, containing a banner attributing the video to the Sahab Production Committee.

The official also said the video appears to have been made in the last several months, perhaps as recently as late summer, because of references to the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, and the Sept. 11 commission.

ABC News obtained the video in Pakistan on Friday from a source known to have Taliban and al Qaeda connections, according to the ABC report.

The tape had been the subject of speculation on the Web that ABC was delaying its airing of the tape as it weighed its possible political ramifications.

In the presidential campaign, President Bush has lauded his administrations' war on terrorism while at the same time stressing that a threat remains and he is best prepared to address it. His opponent, Sen. John Kerry, claims the administration has made the country less safe.

ABC's Web site said it paid the source $500 in transportation fees. Since then, the network has been working with intelligence officials to understand the tape's content and origins.

Officials have been on alert for a possible al Qaeda strike since intelligence sources this spring and summer indicated the group's interest in such an attack. The sources were never specified publicly.

In the past four or more weeks, however, the various sources of such information have quieted down. That includes a decrease in the contacts and communications among terror suspects and sympathizers that governments can monitor. This often-ambiguous dialogue can include things as easy to track as postings to Internet chat rooms.

U.S. authorities are picking up less of that kind of traffic, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Within the past week, U.S. officials also have said that some of the information from one intelligence source who led to the heightened election concerns now has been deemed not credible.

The FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are arresting people who are considered a possible threat; they are usually being taken in on charges unrelated to a potential terror threat.

Since Oct. 1, agents have arrested 137 people on immigration violations in a stepped-up enforcement action aimed at finding those who may pose a threat to national security, ICE officials said. The names of some of those arrested appear on government lists of those with possible connections to terrorism.

Law enforcement officials said "several hundred" people are under tighter surveillance ahead of Tuesday's election.

Those people under heightened government scrutiny were identified through methods such as intelligence gathered inside and outside the United States; FBI interviews with an estimated 10,000 Muslims, Arabs and others based on investigative leads; and immigration database alerts triggered when someone violates the terms of a visa, such as failing to attend college as promised.

"We now have systems in place to address this vulnerability, and we are doing so aggressively," ICE chief Michael Garcia said.

Some Muslims worry the arrests and interviews could intimidate Muslims from voting, said Council on American-Islamic Relations spokeswoman Rabiah Ahmed. The FBI has had town-hall meetings and other forums hoping to ease those fears.

"Members of our community have been targeted for reasons that are often unexplained or untold," Ahmed said.

Democrats have suggested that the timing of some highly publicized terror warnings this year was designed to improve support for Mr. Bush.

That includes a summer warning from Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that terrorists might try to disrupt the political process. The announcement came shortly after Democratic presidential candidate Kerry named Sen. John Edwards as his running mate.

Ridge and others have said politics do not play a role in security decisions.

Authorities are cautioning that they have no credible information about a specific attack, including a time, place or method of assault. Ridge has said the threat could extend after the election to the Jan. 20 inauguration and beyond.

No one is sure about the meaning of a decrease in dialogue monitored among suspected terrorists and sympathizers, and other incoming intelligence.

Some view such a trend as a warning, noting a similar lull in the summer before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Others see the decline this time as a potentially positive development, or a sign that al Qaeda might be inactive or weakening.