NYPost

2nd TERROR CELL LURKS

By NILES LATHEM and ANDY GELLER

October 6, 2001 -- U.S. war planners have delayed bombing Afghanistan to give the FBI time to hunt down an elusive Osama bin Laden terror cell that is poised to strike an American target once the attack starts, The Post has learned.

The master terrorist planned the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon believing the United States would retaliate militarily, intelligence sources said yesterday.

As a result, bin Laden readied a counterstrike, planting at least one terrorist cell to carry out a major attack on U.S. interests either here or in Europe, the Middle East or Latin America, the sources said.

There is a "100 percent" chance of an attack once the United States strikes Afghanistan, a top intelligence official said.

One of the reasons the United States hasn't struck back at bin Laden is that it wants to give the FBI time to find the counterstrike cell and neutralize it, the sources said.

"That is part of the equation," one official said.

The sources also said the 19 hijackers who took part in the Sept. 11 attacks operated independently of the counterstrike cell.

Some of the material the hijackers left behind - including phone numbers and documents - was disinformation designed to throw investigators off the trail of their comrades in terror, sources said.

Bin Laden's chilling plan was outlined to lawmakers on Tuesday at a classified briefing given by counter-terrorism officials of the FBI, CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency.

The information was based on intelligence from sources in England, Germany, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Egyptian, Somali and Pakistani elements of bin Laden's network are thought to be involved.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer refused to discuss the briefing beyond saying, "The threat remains."

The congressional and intelligence sources said a counterstrike was part of bin Laden's plan to destroy the Twin Towers.

They believe bin Laden was counting on America to overreact - giving him the chance to rally Muslim nations for a holy war against America.

Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he expects the terrorists to do the unexpected.

To aid the anti-terrorist effort, the House yesterday approved a bill to increase the CIA annual $30 billion budget by 9 percent.

The measure also would ease CIA rules on the use of "dirty assets" - intelligence operatives with shady backgrounds.

-- Anonymous, October 06, 2001