Bin Laden feared to be planning terrorist attack 6-16-99

<b><font size=5>Bin Laden feared to be planning terrorist attack</b></font>

<p>

<IMG SRC="http://www.cnn.com/US/9906/16/bin.laden.plot/bin.laden.jpg" align="right" alt="U.S. officials say bin Laden 'may be in the final stages' of plotting an anti-American attack.">

<font size=2><i><b>June 16, 1999</b><br>

Web posted at: 9:47 p.m. EDT (0147 GMT)<p></font></i>

<p>

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S.

officials fear that suspected terrorist

Osama bin Laden "may be in the final

stages" of planning an attack against

the United States.

<p>

Bin Laden, son of a Saudi Arabian

billionaire, is accused of masterminding

the almost simultaneous bombings of

the U.S. embassies in Kenya and

Tanzania last August that left 224 people dead.

<p>

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity Wednesday, told CNN

that current targets would most likely be somewhere in the Middle East or

Africa.

<p>

However, they refused to rule out the possibility of an attack on U.S. soil --

including Washington, D.C.

<p>

The officials expressed specific concern about U.S. embassies in

Mozambique, Senegal and Ghana -- all believed to have been under recent

surveillance by possible terrorists.

<p>

Individuals possibly associated with bin Laden's organization are suspected

of videotaping the outside of the embassy in Mozambique.

<p>

The officials believe planning for an attack is in the "advanced" or "final

stages."

<p>

They said the information was a result of intercepted communication and

other intelligence gathering methods they would not elaborate on.

<p>

After the embassy bombings, the United States launched cruise missile

attacks against camps allegedly used by bin Laden in Afghanistan and

bombed a suspected munitions plant in Sudan.

<p>

Since then, law enforcement officials have been looking into "credible

threats" involving bin Laden's terrorist organization, the officials said.

<p>

Bin Laden allegedly is trying to obtain <b>chemical and biological weapons</b> from

a number of sources -- including former Soviet-bloc nations -- for possible

use in such attacks, they added.

<p>

"We have always operated on the assumption that he is continuing his

interest in both obtaining weapons of mass destruction and having his

network attack targets of interest to the United States," said one official.

<p><p>

<i><font size=1>CNN's Carl Rochelle, Chris Plante, Pierre Thomas and Peter Bergen contributed to this

report. </i></font>