& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

PAKISTANI INTELLIGENCE SAYS

al-Qaeda plots attacks to influence US polls

AFP, Islamabad
al-Qaeda operatives captured in Pakistan were plotting terrorist attacks aimed at influencing the US presidential elections in November, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told AFP yesterday.
One of the top operatives had been contacted by al-Qaeda's chief Osama bin Laden as recently as last year, but the elusive figurehead was not involved in the fresh terror plots, the official said.
The terrorist network was looking to pull off major attacks in the United States, Britain or Pakistan in the run-up to the polls but its capacity has been crippled by recent arrests in Pakistan, said the official.
"The network was looking to strike a major blow ahead of the elections. al-Qaeda was looking to strike in the
United States or its chief allies Great Britain and Pakistan," said the official, asking to remain anonymous.
"The period before the US presidential elections was very critical," said the official, who has played a key role in a crackdown against al-Qaeda in Pakistan over the past month which has netted over 20 suspected operatives.
The alleged head of a British-based al-Qaeda cell, Abu Eisa Al Hindi, who was arrested last week after a tip-off from Pakistan, was probably involved in the plots against the United States, said the official.
Information extracted by Pakistani investigators from al-Qaeda suspects detained in recent weeks has led to a spate of arrests in Britain and caused a major terrorism alert in the United States.
Most of the information came from
25-year-old Pakistani computer whizz Naeem Noor Khan, who was arrested in a house near Lahore airport on July 12, said the official.
"The arrest of Naeem Noor Khan opened up a floodgate of information," he said.
Khan's computer files contained detailed photos and surveillance records of key financial institutions in New York, Newark and Washington as well as London's Heathrow airport.
His capture led to the July 25 arrest of a Tanzanian suspect in the 1998 East Africa US embassy bombings, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, another key terror planner in Osama bin Laden's network.
"This group in Pakistan was in close contact with the network in Britain, run by Abu Eisa Al Hindi," the official said.
"Al Hindi was probably helping in targetting the United States."