Intelligence seized during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden reportedly produced the first public warning from the federal government Thursday as local authorities were told of the possibility of a terrorist attack aimed at American railroads. However, U.S. officials cautioned that the intelligence seemed dated and there was no indication of an imminent terror strike.
“DHS issued an intelligence message May 5 to its federal, state, local and tribal partners about potential Al-Qa’ida contemplation in February 2010 of plots against the U.S. rail sector," Department of Homeland Security Spokesman Matt Chandler said Thursday night. "We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting; it is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year."
"We want to stress that this alleged Al Qa’ida plotting is based on initial reporting, which is often misleading or inaccurate and subject to change," Chandler added. "We will issue alerts only when we have specific or credible information to convey to the American public."
The DHS statement did not make any explicit reference to computers, documents, thumb drives and other materials taken from bin Laden's compound on Sunday, but U.S. officials did not deny reports that the warning was derived from information found during the raid.
Source: http://feeds.politico.com/click.phdo?i=b4c17e8b4d1b9a5b80051c842a9b223c
Charles W. Boustany Jr Charlie A. Gonzalez Charlie Dent Chellie Pingree
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