Intel: Terrorists planning
U.S. attacks

A message posted on an Internet forum today by an al-Qaida-linked group calls on Muslims to flee New York City, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles ahead of major terror attacks in those cities, intelligence newsletter DEBKAfile reports.

According to DEBKA, the Jeddah-based Al-Islah society posted the message, which reportedly accuses the United States of predetermining its end (doom) by its policies:

“The Jews rule the Pentagon by remote control and (are the cause) of Muslims being killed in every corner of the world. The United States should therefore expect more blows.”

The message was signed on behalf of the al-Bayan (The Threat) movement by “your warrior brother, Abul Hassan al Khadrami,” the intelligence newsletter said.

DEBKA reports a Muslim expert identified the name of the signatory as belonging to a Yemeni from Hadhrameuth, an area where al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden enjoys substantial tribal support.

The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, also is reporting the message, having translated its content into English. MEMRI says the warning was published on the Global Islamic Media site.

“Our Muslim brothers in America, we ask you to immediately leave the following cities: Washington, D.C., New York and Los Angeles,” reads MEMRI’s translation.

“The next few days will prove to you the truth of this warning. … To the oppressive rulers of America we say: Expect our terms following the first strike of Allah’s believing soldiers [Quran, Chapter 59, Verse 2-3].”

The message ends with another verse from the Quran [Chapter 9, Verse 14]: “Fight them: Allah will punish them at your hands, and will humiliate them, and will help you to overcome them, and will relieve the minds of the believers.”

There is precedent for terrorists using forums to telegraph their operations.

According to the DEBKA report, last November, Jeddah-based fundamentalist forums addressed a message to an al-Qaida member, saying “whoever understands, understands; whoever knows, knows, but we are marching toward an operation that will take us to Paradise.”

Three days later, the Mombasa Paradise hotel was blown up, killing 12 Kenyans and 3 Israelis and a failed shoulder-launched Strela anti-air missile missed an Israeli airliner at the Mombasa airport, DEBKA reports.