FBI identifies possible attackers

WASHINGTON -- The FBI; warning about a possible terrorist attack against the U. S. or against Americans in Yemen, lists individuals with suspected ties to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, U.S. officials said Tuesday. \nAttorney General John Ashcroft, speaking in San Antonio, urged citizens and law enforcement officers across the country to "be on the highest alert." The FBI distributed photographs of men believed to be involved, and police nationwide were put under orders to detain any of them immediately. \nAshcroft described the men as "individuals who may be associated with Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network." \nThe warning identified one possible attacker as Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, a 22-year-old from Yemen. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Rabeei is believed to have links to al Qaeda but is not believed to have been involved in the attack against the USS Cole in the Yemen port of Aden in 2000. \nOfficials acknowledged they did not know whether al-Rabeei was in the U. S. and could not be sure even that he was still alive. A hurried review of U.S. immigration records indicated al-Rabeei has never been in the U. S., a Justice Department official said Tuesday. \nInternationally, allies were trying to determine where al-Rabeei and his associates have traveled recently, but those efforts were being hampered by aliases the men might be using. The FBI listed at least 14 aliases for al-Rabeei, including "Furqan The Chechen." \nThe FBI said it considers the warning to be credible, even though the information does not cite specific targets and is not corroborated by other sources. Officials said they decided to issue the warning out of an abundance of caution and because of the immediacy. \n"We had credible information; we had a specific name," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "It's exactly this type of action that helps disrupt or prevent terrorist attacks, which is why the FBI does it -- and properly so." \nHe said the president had not altered his public schedule. Vice President Dick Cheney, who has gone to secure, undisclosed locations during times of high alert, was working at the White House Tuesday, Fleischer said. \nHomeland Security Director Tom Ridge said the fact that overseas interrogations led to the government's ability to identify specific suspects and time frames for the first time shows the success of the war on terrorism. \n"If we can interdict those who would do us harm and bring havoc and war and destruction and death to this country before they cross our borders…that's the best homeland security," Ridge told the presidents of historically black colleges and universities. \nThe warning, issued Monday night, came after interviews with detainees in Afghanistan and Cuba, where some al Qaeda operatives are being held, Ashcroft said. The FBI's alert listed about a dozen associates of al-Rabeei, most from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. One associate was listed as possibly coming from Tunisia.