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[Rhetoric 101: Which is the more likely prospect?] AFP Thursday March 28, 21:37 PM Al-Qaeda preparing to strike again: US intelligence experts US intelligence officials said they were convinced Al-Qaeda terrorists were preparing to strike again, in comments in the Italian press, a day after Washington warned its citizens in Italy of possible threats on Easter Sunday. "We Americans and Europeans have to stress the prevention of attacks. We are moving towards a new terrorist season," Marvin Cetron, a consultant with the US intelligence agency CIA, told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. "Al-Qaeda, its accomplices and followers are in the process of regrouping themselves," he said Thursday. Cetron's concerns were echoed by the former head of the CIA's Counterterrorism unit, in an interview with the newspaper La Stampa. "US intelligence services are convinced that Al-Qaeda will strike in the course of the coming weekend or in any case within a few weeks, to coincide with Passover," the Jewish festival which began Wednesday, Vincent Cannistraro said. The warnings come after US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned US nationals travelling in Italy to be particuarly careful because of possible terrorist threats in four Italian cities over the Easter holiday. "There is a higher threat level in Italy," Powell said Wednesday. Earlier, the State Department and the US embassy in Rome issued identical statements saying they had received credible information that "extremist groups" were planning possible attacks against Americans in Venice, Florence, Milan and Verona on Easter Sunday. Cetron said Italy was a primary target for attacks because of the presence of the Vatican and because of problems with illegal immigration and its proximity to the Balkans, "where numerous extremist groups can be found." Both experts excluded an attack similar to September 11 of last year, when hijackers crashed four airliners into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon outside Washington, and rural Pennsylvania. Al-Qaeda and its head, fugitive Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden, are blamed for the attacks, which left around 3,000 people dead. Cannistraro said the attacks being prepared were simliar to one in the southern Egyptian tourist resort of Luxor, where Islamic fundamentalists opened fire on visitors in November 1997, killing 58 people. He said the attacks would likely not be suicide missions, but instead could target people in the street and the attackers could use regular weapons. Italian authorities have sought to reassure the public following the US warning. "I've decided to split my Easter vacation between Venice and Florence with my family," Interior Minister Claudio Scajola said. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards� http://movies.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
