Wall Street warned of Al-Qaeda attacks

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has reportedly warned banks and financial institutions in New York of potential terrorist attacks by Al-Qaeda.

The FBI and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have been issuing briefings about imminent threats to the public sector since the September 2001 attacks whenever circumstances warrant or new threats are revealed.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Jim Margolin, a spokesperson for the New York office of the FBI said that published reports focusing on financial businesses came to light a month back, following which banks were briefed about potential threats from the Group.

The media report says that in January, an editorial titled Is it halal to dispossess the wealth of the disbelievers in America and other Western Countries? and written by Yemeni American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki appeared on the Internet magazine Inspire. The editorial specifically identifies targets in Government owned property, banks and global corporations. Awlaki belongs to the faction Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula (AQAP) and has been known to urge killings of American civilians and military personnel in earlier video postings.

The U.S. authorities have already foiled two attempted attacks in October, when bombs were discovered in printer cartridges being flown to the country from Europe and Yemen. The sophistication of the explosives indicated Al-Qaeda involvement at the time.

Meanwhile, U.S. diplomatic documents accessed by WikiLeaks have laid bare attempts by the outfit to acquire large amounts of uranium and plutonium, which could be used to build improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to be targeted at British troops or in major urban attacks. Thousands of classified American documents leaked reveal details of how large amounts of highly radioactive material are being trafficked across Europe, Africa and the Middle East by the terrorists, who are very close to producing biological and chemical weapons capable of killing thousands together and contaminating large areas. A report on the leaks by The Vancouver Sun says that the deputy director general of the IAEA, Tomihiro Taniguchi has privately warned America that the world stands on the brink of a nuclear 9/11 if stores of uranium and plutonium cannot be secured against terrorists.