Osama's last plot?

Evidence seized from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan suggests his al Qaeda terror network was considering an attack on US trains to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. US officials said the plan had been conceived in 2010, but was still very much in its infancy.

"We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the US rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting," spokesman Matthew Chandler said of an intelligence message sent out by the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday.

The message said that some evidence was found indicating that bin Laden or his associates had engaged in discussions or planning for a possible attack on September 11 against the US rail network.

Chandler also noted, however, that the department report was based on "initial reporting," saying such information "is often misleading of inaccurate due to a rapidly developing situation and is subject to change."

US agencies have been rushing to collate and analyze the information gathered from the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was killed on Sunday. Among other items, about five computers, 10 hard drives and 100 storage devices were seized.

Plans to tip trains

The department report mooted that al Qaeda "was looking into trying to tip a train by tampering with the rails so that the train would fall off the track at either a valley or a bridge."

The intelligence message also mentioned plans to warn "rail sector stakeholders," but John Pistole, head of the Transport Security Administration in the US, said there was "no specific threat to mass transit right now."

Government spokesman Chandler said the information suggested only at this stage that this idea was considered by either bin Laden or his associates.

"It is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year," Chandler said.

The US Department of Homeland Security has made several precautionary changes since the deadly raid on bin Laden's hideout to guard against reprisals, including posting more officers at airports and borders.

Al Qaeda acknowledges leader's death

Bin Laden's al Qaeda terror group has apparenty acknowledged the death of its leader and founder in statements posted on jihadist Internet forums on Friday.

The messages pledged to continue bin Laden's work, called on Muslims to seek revenge against "the Americans and their agents," and also said that bin Laden had recorded an audio message roughly a week before his death which would be released soon.

Al Qaeda were particularly critical of the Pakistani government for allowing the raid in the town of Abbottabad to go ahead.

Investigators from the United Nations, meanwhile, asked the US on Friday to provide information proving that the operation against bin Laden conformed with international law. Christof Heyns, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Martin Scheinin, Special Rapporteur on human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism issued a joint statement asking the US "to disclose the facts."

"It will be particularly important to know if the planning of the mission allowed an effort to capture bin Laden," they wrote in their statement. Acknowledging that the use of deadly forces against terrorists was permissible in certain cases, the pair also said "the norm should be that terrorists be dealt with as criminals, through legal processes of arrest, trial and judicially decided punishment."

Author: Mark Hallam (AFP, dpa, Retuers)
Editor: Nicole Goebel