"Money is coming in and out" of the United States, the senior official said. This includes money transfers from the U.S. to known terrorist operatives overseas and to offshore bank accounts.
U.S. counter-terrorism authorities have long been concerned about Al Qaeda's presence in the United States. But the new information has caused grave top-level concerns because it comes amid a flurry of intelligence about Al Qaeda operatives trying to gain entry into the U.S. through Canada, Mexico, U.S. ports and airports -- even by hijacking airliners in Mexico or Canada so they can be flown into American targets, officials said.
"I wouldn't term it as worse" than before Sept. 11, the senior official said of the current Al Qaeda threat in the United States. "But our knowledge base is better, so we see a deeper threat. We certainly have a deeper appreciation for the sophistication and the capabilities that we are dealing with and the fact that we have to constantly adapt to them."
As the anniversary of Sept. 11 approached, there were also indications that Al Qaeda operatives in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the U.S. were plotting attacks that, while probably not on the scale of Sept. 11, could cause widespread casualties and profound economic and psychological fallout, said another U.S. official based in the Middle East, citing recent intelligence reports.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that Al Qaeda could use the anniversary of Sept. 11 to attack "softer" targets inside or outside the U.S. Similar intelligence reports of pending attacks have surfaced sporadically over the last two years, but no new attacks have occurred in the United States.
Over the last week, the FBI has issued worldwide alerts for four Al Qaeda operatives who it believes are plotting attacks, most likely overseas. On Tuesday, authorities posted a $5-million bounty for a Yemeni-born U.S. citizen linked to an upstate New York sleeper cell, saying he was plotting attacks on U.S. interests overseas and communicating with associates in the United States.
And U.S. officials said several recent high-profile cases in Canada, including the arrest of 19 men with similarities to the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers, have underscored their concerns that Al Qaeda is trying to infiltrate terrorists into the United States.
"They've shown an interest in coming through our borders both in Canada and Mexico," said one FBI official. "It is a concern. It is a vulnerability."
