New Information Indicates Attacks in U.S.

WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday new information indicates terrorists are planning an attack on America, possibly connected to high-profile upcoming events such as the dedication of a new World War II monument, economic summit and political conventions.

“I can confirm that we have seen for the past several weeks a continuous stream of reporting that talks about the possibility of attacks on the United States,” Ridge said.

Appearing on morning television news shows in advance of a news conference later Wednesday by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller, Ridge said of potential terrorists on U.S. soil: “It’s our job, obviously, to try to identify who they are and apprehend them.”

Ashcroft and Mueller were expected to draw new attention to photos of several suspected al-Qaida operatives the FBI has been pursuing for months. They include Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a Saudi native who once lived in Florida, and Aafia Siddiqui, a woman from Pakistan who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A federal law enforcement official, speaking Wednesday on condition of anonymity, said there was no new information indicating those individuals were in the United States. But ratcheting up publicity about them could lead investigators to some of their associates who remain in the country, the official said.

U.S. counterterrorism and law enforcement officials said Tuesday that new intelligence indicates a group of terrorists already deployed inside the United States is preparing to launch a major attack this summer. This information was described by a senior counterterrorism official on condition of anonymity as extremely credible and backed by an unusually high level of corroboration.