U.s. Officials: Al Qaeda Plans Major Assassination; Bin Laden Will Signal Attack

[CVX]

U.S. intelligence officials say a high-profile political assassination, triggered by the public release of a new message from Osama bin Laden, will lead off the next major al Qaeda terrorist attack, the WASHINGTON TIMES has learned.

The assassination plan is among new details of al Qaeda plots disclosed by U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports who, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the killing could be carried out against a U.S. or foreign leader either in the United States or abroad.

The new details of al Qaeda's plans were found on a laptop computer belonging to arrested al Qaeda operative Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan of Pakistan, Bill Gertz is set to report in a page one blockbuster.

'We're talking about planning at the screwdriver level,' one official said. 'It is very detailed.'