U.S. officials see link in terrorism network

bin Laden

From CNN State Department Correspondent Andrea Koppel

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNN) -- U.S. officials believe they've established a plausible link between terrorist cells operating in Jordan and Montreal and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Last week British police made a number of arrests, including that of Mustafa Labsi, an Algerian national associated with an Algerian militant group believed to have participated in a plot to attack the United States in December 1999.

Labsi and others were charged with making preparations to engage in acts of terrorism, published reports indicate.

U.S. officials say some of those arrested were plotting terrorist attacks in Europe.

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Officials say Labsi rented an apartment in the same Montreal building as Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian charged with trying to smuggle explosives from Canada into the United States before Millennium celebrations.

In December 2000, German police arrested four men suspected of terrorist activities. The German government told the U.S. they confiscated a videotape of what they believe are sites in Strasbourg, France, which were being "cased" for possible terrorist attack.

U.S. officials view these arrests as a significant development in terms of U.S. cooperation with European governments to fight terrorism.

"For a long time the Europeans thought al-Qaeda was just an American problem," one senior administration official said.

U.S. officials say terrorists have been able to use Britain as a sanctuary, but a new anti-terrorism law in Britain -- which took affect this week -- gives the British authorities legal power to act.

"We're quite pleased about this law," one U.S. official added.

Ussamah Bin Laden
Terrorism Research Center
Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1999
FBI Websites Document Evidence Against Bin Laden

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