U.S. Embassy Bomb Plot Foiled

U.S. counter-terrorism experts have arrived in India to assess what police say was a plot by Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden to bomb the U.S. Embassy and two consular offices, an embassy spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Police have arrested four people, including a Bangladeshi man accused of working for Pakistan's intelligence agency, according to newspaper reports in New Delhi.

The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and consulates in the southern city of Madras and the eastern city of Calcutta were targeted, according to the reports. The attacks were to have taken place before next Tuesday's national holiday marking the anniversary of India's constitution.

Security at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, including those in India, has been tightened following the August bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which killed a total of 224 people, including 12 Americans. Washington has accused bin Laden of being behind those attacks.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said today that U.S. counter-terrorism experts from several federal agencies arrived Tuesday to assess the reported plot. No other details were available.

Indian Police Minister Lal Krishna Advani has assured the U.S. Embassy of full government protection, the Press Trust of India reported.

In Islamabad, Zameer Akram, the senior Pakistani Foreign Ministry official for south Asia, told The Associated Press that "Indian authorities have not informed us about any arrests and we don't have any information about the case."

The ringleader of the plot was identified as Sayed Abu Nasir, 27, of Bangladesh. Nasir, said to be working for Pakistani intelligence, was arrested last week and is now in a high-security prison in New Delhi, city police chief R.N. Singh was quoted as telling the Indian Express.

He said four and a half pounds of powerful explosives were recovered from Nasir at the time of his arrest at New Delhi's railroad station.

Three Indian associates of Nasir were arrested in the eastern resort of Siliguri on Sunday following Nasir's interrogation.

Six others were still at large and believed to be in Madras, Singh said.

India routinely accuses neighboring Pakistan of fomenting violence here through its spy agency. Pakistani denies the charges.

Pakistan backs Afghanistan's ruling Taliban army, which has given bin Laden refuge. Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi dissident, is believed to have trained and funded an international, anti-American terrorist network.

Written By Donna Bryson