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The same Al Qaeda-linked group that attempted to send bombs on cargo planes earlier this year considered putting poison in food served at US hotels and restaurants, US media has reported. US intelligence officials told CNN on Tuesday that the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was considering poisoning food supplies with ricin and cyanide. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), however, also emphasized that the threat was akin to plots discussed in numerous online jihadist publications, where militants and their sympathizers routinely consider ways to attack Western interests. Al Qaeda has "publicly stated its intention to try to carry out unconventional attacks for well over a decade, and AQAP propaganda in the past year has made similar references," DHS spokesman Sean Smith said in a statement to CNN. US Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday labeled US-Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki as "a top terrorism threat on par with Osama bin Laden." Al-Awlaki, an American citizen who remains at large in Yemen, is suspected of being an AQAP leader and of instigating a string of attacks against the US. Top White House anti-terror adviser John Brennan said Wednesday that US intelligence and law enforcement agencies were "doing everything they can do to prevent terrorists from disrupting the safety and security of Americans" over the Christmas holiday. AFP |
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