By JOHN LUMPKIN and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers - Updated: Wed, Oct 31 12:15 AM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. authorities suspect Osama bin Laden's inner circle may have issued new orders for attacks against Americans and are concerned the terrorists might strike even if they get cut off from their central command in Afghanistan, officials said Tuesday.
The terrorist alert issued Monday was based on intelligence involving Afghanistan and known al-Qaida supporters elsewhere in the world, including Canada, the officials told The Associated Press.
The officials, who described the information solely on condition of anonymity, said some of the intelligence suggested one of bin Laden's lieutenants in Afghanistan recently urged new attacks on Americans. They declined to be more specific.
U.S. officials have long suspected that bin Laden's top deputies, Ayman al-Zawahri and Mohammed Atef, were involved in the planning or support of the Sept. 11 hijackings.
They cautioned, however, that U.S. intelligence also is open to the possibility that the terrorists are aware their communications are being monitored and may be planting false information.
The officials said other information that led to the warning from Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday suggested known al-Qaida operatives in Canada, Asia and elsewhere were discussing new attacks.
Canada's Solicitor General Lawrence MacAuley, who oversees the nation's law enforcement and intelligence, confirmed Tuesday that information his country provided to the United States was behind the warning.
Information provided to the FBI from the Canadian Intelligence Security Service "led Mr. Ashcroft to make the statement that he made yesterday," MacAuley said.
U.S. officials said they are concerned the al-Qaida network may become more decentralized in the midst of the U.S.-led bombing in Afghanistan. They said there are some suspicions terrorist cells already trained or financed by bin Laden's network might be willing to act without a central order from Afghanistan.
Key members of Congress said such a decentralization was feared because it would make it more difficult to detect where the next attacks were coming from.
"If there are people who would do us harm, we have to assume those people are probably trained to do things without a specific order," said Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
A senior U.S. official said American intelligence doesn't have sufficient evidence to determine whether this decentralization is already taking place but it is of concern.
U.S. intelligence also is considering the possibility that the terrorists, aware of the extensive effort to intercept their communications, may be planting false communications to disguise their real plans, officials said.
"My guess is the terrorist network is not going to avoid using the tool of disinformation," said Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Added Shelby: "You have to believe that any messages could be disinformation."
Government officials said they are open to the possibility that even the intelligence received in the last week may be designed to deceive the United States and its allies.
In addition, the officials said, U.S. intelligence is reassessing information received this spring and summer that led to a CIA warning in June that bin Laden might strike overseas.
No attacks occurred and the information from that period is being re-evaluated to determine if some of it was designed to disguise the plans to strike on U.S. soil on Sept. 11, officials said.