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Government Trying Hard to Keep Tabs on People Who May Be Working For Al Qaeda

Aired July 12, 2002 - 12:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As we mentioned, the government is trying hard it keep tab on a few dozen people who may be working for, or at least supportive, of Al Qaeda. Sources say the cities where so- called sleeper cells or operatives are being tracked -- areas that are being tracked rather is Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta.

CNN Justice correspondent Kelli Arena joins us now from Washington with more on this.

A bit nerve wracking, Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is, Kyra.

But once you keep in mind, that, a, these are just among some of the cities that we have been able to confirm through sources, where there are possible Al Qaeda operatives, that are being surveilled. We are told that numbers -- the total number of people looked at is less than a hundred. Now, that doesn't mean that there aren't more possible -- people with possible terrorist connections, or so-called sympathizers in the country, but these are people that are being actively surveilled 24/7. Just because those cities are mentioned does not mean that there is any specific intelligence that points to an attack in any of those cities.

That is not what this is about. There just so happens to be people there that are of interest to law enforcement. They could be people who are just there on reconnaissance missions, or people who might be involved in financing, and at the very worst, they may be involved in planning an attack -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So why aren't some of these people being arrested? Why are they just being watched? I know you mentioned a little bit there. But if they are watch sewed closely, you have to wonder why they are not brought into custody for any reason?

ARENA: Well, in many aces, there is absolutely no reason to bring them into custody. In many cases, they are here legally. They have valid visas. They are -- you know, have not they committed any crime. So therefore, they are just -- they are of interest, and they are being watched.

In some cases, they have either overstayed visas or have some other violation. But law enforcement has determined that these people are much more valuable in terms of watching them and continuing to gather information and intelligence, in terms of who they are talking to, who they are trying to contact, where they are going, than it is to have them sitting in an INS detention cell.

So these are people who are not -- if there were any indication at all, Kyra, that any of these people were about to do harm it Americans, they would be taken into custody. We saw that happen with Jose Padilla, right off the plane. They thought he was here to try to garner material for a dirty bomb, taken in.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned Jose Padilla. You mention his ethnicity, background. What types of people are these?

ARENA: It's a variety of people. We are not being given detailed information here, but our sources say that this could include everyone from people who are here visiting, who have possible suspected terrorist ties, to people who may be involved in organizations that they think could be fronting and trying to send money back to terrorist organizations. They could very well be Americans who are sympathizers or who have had contacts with questionable people. So this -- these people don't -- we should not jump to the assumption that these people are all Middle Eastern, or what we might consider typical Al Qaeda types. These are people who are of interest, and they are a wide range of individuals.

PHILLIPS: Tell me about this other story that's coming out of Pasadena, Texas. What's the deal there?

ARENA: FBI had some gotten information regarding a possible terrorist threat against oil refineries in Pasadena, California. We were -- the information said July 12th, there may be an attack on oil refineries. We are told from sources that this came from one individual. It is not very credible, unsubstantiated, uncorroborated information. Nonetheless, as you know, post-9/11, the FBI passes every bit of information it gets from state and local authorities. FBI goes to Pasadena, California and says, hey, we have this information.

It occurs to the FBI that there aren't a whole lot of oil refineries in Pasadena, California. So maybe we need to also tell Pasadena, Texas about the information, because there are an awful lot of oil refineries there, even though the intelligence never mentioned Pasadena, Texas. The information goes tout these two cities. Officials in Pasadena, Texas actually are taking it quite seriously, upping patrols today, on a high level of alert, although there are not evacuations going on, but the information is out there. Again, not very credible.

But as we heard before from FBI officials, out of an abundance of caution, it is passing along any and all intelligence to the revalent state and local law enforcement authorities.

PHILLIPS: All right, Justice correspondent Kelli Arena.

Thanks, Kelli.

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