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Story About Terror Threat That's Been Busted
Aired March 28, 2003 - 14:08 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on now, a story about a terror threat that has been busted. That word from a senior U.S. source who tells CNN that those involved are Iraqis. For details let's go to our State Department Correspondent, Andrea Koppel.
Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Judy, several administration sources have told CNN that for the first time since the last Persian Gulf War in 1991, two active Iraqi plots, two sleeper cells, have been rolled up. They were planning, according to U.S. officials, to attack U.S. interests in two countries. Now we're told that one of those countries is a Gulf country, but the other one is not identified.
Now sources also tell us that the sleeper cells were comprised of alleged Iraqi intelligence service agents, obviously working for the Iraqi government, and that they were found with "terrorist materials including standard explosive materials, not chemical or biological weapons." Now the officials say that the plots were in the planning stages. In other words, as one official put it, they weren't walking out the door to carry out these attacks and that, in fact, they didn't have their hands on the explosive materials to set them off.
What we are talking about is active planning in two different countries. In addition, we were told by our sources, Judy, that there are - there is also information that was gathered as a result of these arrests that leads U.S. officials to believe that Iraqi intelligence service agents in as many as 10 countries are also actively politicizing attacks against U.S. interests. What U.S. officials are saying is that these agents started actually the planning when the - or just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq began, and that since that time, suspected Iraqi intelligence agents, some with diplomatic credentials, have been put in control of Iraqi embassies around the world.
Now this is why the State Department earlier this month asked various governments, they didn't want to go into specifics to expel these Iraqi suspected intelligence agents. So, again, this is the first time in about 12 years that two active plots that were being planned by Iraqi service intelligence agents had been thwarted.
WOODRUFF: All right, Andrea Koppel with that new information about the Iraqi agents being caught virtually in the act. Andrea, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired March 28, 2003 - 14:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on now, a story about a terror threat that has been busted. That word from a senior U.S. source who tells CNN that those involved are Iraqis. For details let's go to our State Department Correspondent, Andrea Koppel.
Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Judy, several administration sources have told CNN that for the first time since the last Persian Gulf War in 1991, two active Iraqi plots, two sleeper cells, have been rolled up. They were planning, according to U.S. officials, to attack U.S. interests in two countries. Now we're told that one of those countries is a Gulf country, but the other one is not identified.
Now sources also tell us that the sleeper cells were comprised of alleged Iraqi intelligence service agents, obviously working for the Iraqi government, and that they were found with "terrorist materials including standard explosive materials, not chemical or biological weapons." Now the officials say that the plots were in the planning stages. In other words, as one official put it, they weren't walking out the door to carry out these attacks and that, in fact, they didn't have their hands on the explosive materials to set them off.
What we are talking about is active planning in two different countries. In addition, we were told by our sources, Judy, that there are - there is also information that was gathered as a result of these arrests that leads U.S. officials to believe that Iraqi intelligence service agents in as many as 10 countries are also actively politicizing attacks against U.S. interests. What U.S. officials are saying is that these agents started actually the planning when the - or just before the U.S. invasion of Iraq began, and that since that time, suspected Iraqi intelligence agents, some with diplomatic credentials, have been put in control of Iraqi embassies around the world.
Now this is why the State Department earlier this month asked various governments, they didn't want to go into specifics to expel these Iraqi suspected intelligence agents. So, again, this is the first time in about 12 years that two active plots that were being planned by Iraqi service intelligence agents had been thwarted.
WOODRUFF: All right, Andrea Koppel with that new information about the Iraqi agents being caught virtually in the act. Andrea, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
