CIA Warns of Terror Attacks On Targets Including Paris Sewage System

The CIA is warning its counterparts in Europe of the possibility of terror attacks in several countries, with Paris’ waste water system among the suggested targets.

The agency warned that al-Qaeda agents may be planning suicide or bombing attacks in London and cities in Italy, France and Germany, Le Monde newspaper reported. It said the CIA had warned of the possibility of attacks taking place this month.

Le Monde said the CIA intercepted an e-mail on Sept. 11 that raised the possibility of an attack on Paris’ sewage system. The newspaper said the author of the e-mail was unknown but that it was addressed to Salah Gasmi, a leading member of al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa.

Counterterrorism officials in Washington are saying there is ongoing and “very deep concern” about the potential threat from members of an extremist Islamist cell who escaped arrest in Germany after the highly publicized September arrests there of three senior leaders of the Islamic Jihad Union.

The Islamic Jihad Union militant group has taken responsibility for planning the foiled terror bombings of the Ramstein airbase and U.S. and Uzbek consulates in Germany.

German authorities foiled the trio’s alleged plot to attack U.S. and other targets in Germany, but up to 10 others believed to be involved in the organization escaped a subsequent manhunt, the Washington official said. At least one is considered extremely dangerous and is now believed to be in Britain, the official said on condition of anonymity because the subject involves intelligence matters.

Al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa is the new name of a Salafist group involved in an ongoing Islamic insurgency in Algeria that now pledges allegiance to Osama bin Laden’s network.

The group has claimed responsibility for a string of recent attacks in Algeria. The No. 2 al-Qaida official, Ayman al-Zawahri, has called for attacks against French and Spanish interests in that region.

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