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CNN Live Today

U.S., Philippines Trying to Uncover Embassy Bomb Plot

Aired September 09, 2002 - 10:08   ET

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

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In other news, the authorities in the Philippines have reportedly unraveled an al Qaeda plot to attack U.S. and Israeli embassies in Manila. At the center of the plot, an al Qaeda operative with direct ties to Osama bin Laden.
CNN's Maria Ressa has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has learned this is one of the targets: the U.S. embassy in Manila, heavily fortified after it was identified as a target in an earlier al Qaeda plot.

At least four tons of explosives are missing in the Philippines, those explosives, authorities here were told, are to be used by suicide bombers activated by al Qaeda who will travel, or have traveled, to the Philippines from outside the region.

ANGELO REYES, PHILIPPINE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We have placed our entire forces and police forces on red alert.

RESSA: The information came from this al Qaeda operative, Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, a Canadian born in Kuwait. Jabarah's links go to the top. Intelligence sources tell CNN he met with Osama bin Laden two months before he was sent to Southeast Asia by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a bin Laden lieutenant U.S. authorities say is the key planner of September 11.

An intelligence document obtained by CNN spells it out, "Jabarah, a personal choice of Osama bin Laden because of his mastery of the English language, was dispatched on September 10, 2001 by al Qaeda operations officer Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to assist in carrying out bombing activities in the Philippines and Singapore."

Authorities in Singapore say Jabarah activated sleeper cells there to attack the U.S. embassy and other Western interests in the city-state. That plot was foiled, and the Singapore cell largely dismantled after the arrest of 13 members last year.

Jabarah himself was arrested around March this year in Oman, and is now in U.S. custody. During his interrogation, he told investigators the the plot in Singapore was moved to the Philippines.

REYES: He has -- call it excellent credentials, a confirmed terrorist. So we have to take the results of the interrogation report very, very seriously. RESSA: This, officials here say, is not necessarily linked to the anniversary of September 11.

(on camera): There are many reasons why the Philippines may be targeted, because al Qaeda established a presence here in the early '90s, to the fact that this country is a key U.S. ally in the global war on terror. U.S. sources tell CNN they are aware of the threat, and are working with their Filipino counterparts to help prevent any attack.

Maria Ressa, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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