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CNN Live At Daybreak

FBI Issues New Terrorism Alert For U.S., Interests in Yemen

Aired February 12, 2002 - 05:02   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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Two senior U.S. officials tell CNN last week's missile attack by a Predator drone like that one there was a joint military-CIA operation. That assertion conflicts with Pentagon statements the attack on a convoy in Afghanistan was solely a CIA mission. There is still no confirmation on whether a senior al Qaeda member was, indeed, killed in that attack.

And the FBI has identified a key suspect in a new terrorist alert. He is Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei from Yemen. The alert warns of a possible attack on the United States or against United States interests in Yemen as early as today.

An FBI spokesman says the alert was prompted by information from detainees in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now, the FBI thinks this threat is so credible it took the unusual step of putting it up on its Web site. You can read all about Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei there. It says he may have more than a dozen aliases and officials, of course, don't know where he is.

Now, besides this picture, the photos of 12 other people described as al-Rabeei's associates have been posted on the FBI Web site. A senior U.S. law enforcement official tells CNN the information about the potential attack is seen as credible because detainees in Afghanistan and in Cuba provided specific information about those suspects. It was the same information.

Now, the FBI alert does not appear to be linked to an al Qaeda manhunt now under way in Yemen.

CNN's Brent Sadler has been covering that story and he joins live from Sanaa, Yemen -- Brent, what can you tell us?

BRENT SADLER, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Carol, this FBI terror alert coincides with that continuing manhunt for two al Qaeda suspects wanted by the U.S. in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole in Aden some 16 months ago. On the other issue of the terror alert, Yemen security sources tell CNN that information about the "intention" of a terror suspect to enter Yemen after leaving Afghanistan to carry out possible attacks against U.S. interests here in Yemen was passed onto government authorities here by both the United States and Great Britain.

The FBI alert was actually issued less than 24 hours after Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, met with a top U.S. general here in the capital Sanaa. There was no discussion of the imminent FBI announcement between President Saleh and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Central Command, General Tommy Franks.

But a warning about that man, Fawaz al-Rabeei, was passed on to Yemeni intelligence and security services Monday, when the Yemeni leader here was given assurances of a U.S. intention to intensify its interaction with the Yemenis to combat terror.

Now, as far as the interrogations of those captives in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are concerned, officials here are saying that it really does reflect the success of those ongoing interrogations that this threat and two other threats against U.S. interests here in Yemen have been revealed over the past six weeks.

Now, security around the U.S. Embassy has been very high, indeed, here in Sanaa over the past several weeks. That continues today, the Yemenis saying that they're taking this latest threat very seriously, indeed, and they say they're taking all necessary measures to protect both Yemeni security and that particularly of the United States -- back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: So a question, just how credible is this threat? I know you said Yemeni officials are taking it quite seriously, but there's a difference of opinion here in the United States. The FBI is taking it seriously, but Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge isn't necessarily taking it so seriously.

SADLER: Good question, Carol. You have to look at this in the context of the overall picture of Yemen's role in fighting terror, helping the U.S. create a partnership, which is ongoing now, clearly, as a result of what we've seen in these high level official visits that are taking place here. And, indeed, you have to see this as one of a series of threats. There are likely to be many more, say officials in Yemen, as the weeks and months go on, as more information comes out of al Qaeda and Taliban captives being questioned by U.S. interrogators.

And more information may well come out when it's expected Yemeni investigators will link up with the FBI in Cuba, as early as next week, to start pressing for more information, particularly from Yemenis in Cuba -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So I guess we'll all remain on alert. Thank you. Brent Sadler reporting live for us from Yemen this morning.

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