Intel officials receive a steady stream of threat traffic, much of which is unreliable. Why did Sakr’s warning get their attention? Two days before the deadly Casablanca bombings on May 16, he predicted “good news” coming from “Morocco,” according to Homeland Security documents obtained by NEWSWEEK. It’s unclear where Sakr is based. He has claimed in his Internet communications that he operates out of a Qaeda camp in Sudan. Officials haven’t confirmed this. But his information raises the possibility that more terrorists lurk among us.
What is the FBI doing to find them? The case of Iyman Faris provides a window into the Feds’ creative new legal tactics as they try to foil more attacks. Faris, who secretly pleaded guilty to charges of supporting a terrorist organi-zation on April 17, was turned into an informant by the FBI. Until recently he was not in prison. Instead, the Feds moved the Kashmir native between hotel rooms and safe houses and listened in as he phoned friends and associates. The Feds tell NEWSWEEK they are pleased with the intelligence their snitch gathered. But some law-enforcement officials question how serious a threat Faris represented. They wonder if he was meant as a diversion while other, more seasoned operatives plot real attacks.
