CIA warns of terror strike against US troops in Iraq

AL-QAIDA operatives are planning to strike at US and allied forces taking part in a war in Iraq, according to information acquired by American intelligence agencies.

The operatives are subordinates of Abu Musab Zarqawi, whom CIA officials describe as a senior associate of Osama bin Laden.

Some are in Baghdad; others are elsewhere in Iraq, said US counter-terrorism officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The intelligence does not suggest any kind of coordination between the government of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaida operatives; instead officials believe the terrorists are looking to capitalise on the chaos created by any military conflict to strike at American and allied troops.

A CIA report, passed to senior government officials last week, warned of the potential strikes.

The officials said operatives may be planning to use explosives or toxins to conduct the attack.

The new information comes against a murky backdrop regarding whether Iraq supports al-Qaida, or to what extent there are ties.

However, intelligence officials have generally agreed they have nothing to document that Saddam Hussein had a hand in the September 11, 2001, attacks or that Saddam and Osama bin Laden are coordinating terrorist operations.

At the centre of US allegations that there are links between Iraq and the terrorist group is Zarqawi, a Jordanian terrorist operative, and some of his followers.

CIA Director George Tenet and others have described Zarqawi as a senior associate of al-Qaida leader bin Laden, but officials acknowledge some difference of opinion within US intelligence whether it is correct to describe him as a member of the organisation.

Zarqawi has been linked to the failed millennium bombing of a tourist hotel in Jordan and the killing of an American diplomat in Amman in October.

According to US officials, Zarqawi was in Baghdad last summer, presumably with the knowledge of Iraqi officials. Some of his people are still there.

Zarqawi is also linked to an Islamic extremist group in northern Iraq, Ansar al-Islam, that operates in a region outside of Saddam's control.

An agent from Iraq's government is working for Ansar, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a February 5 presentation to the UN Security Council. Mr Powell said this agent had offered safe haven to some al-Qaida operatives in the region.