C01075063 C b 1 b 3 EO 12958 1 4 c 25Yrs EO 12958 3 5 c Declassified and roved for Release 10 April 2004 Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US Clandestine foreign government and media reports Indicate Bin Ledin since 1997 has wanl•d to conduct terrorist attacks In the US Bin Ladln implied in US television Interviews in 1997 and 1998 that his lotlowers would follow the example olWorldTrade Centerbomb r Aamzi Youse and bring lhe lighting to America Alter US missile strikes on his base In Afghanistan in 1998 Bin Ladln told followers he wanted lo retaliate in Washington according to a service An Egyptian Islamic Jihad EIJ operative told a c - ccc ervice at the s lme time that Bin Ladln was planning lo exploll the operative's access io the US to mounl II terrorist strike The millennium plotting In Canada In 1999 may have been part of Bin Lad n's first serious attempt to mpl ment a t rrorlst strike In the -US Convicted plotter Ahmed Ressam has told the F81 lhat he conc elvei 1 the idea lo attack Los Angeles lnternalfonal Airpor1 himself bul lhJtt Bin• l adin lieutenant Abu Zubaydah encouraged him and h Ip d fl clll i - operation Ressam also said that in 1998 Abu Zubaydah was pla nhi hls own US attack · Ressam says Bin Ladln was aware of the Los Angeles operation Although Bin Ladln has not succeeded his attacks against the us Embassies In Kenya and Tanzania In 1998 demonstrate that he prepares operations years In advance and Is not deterred by setbacks Bin Ladin associates survellled our Embassies ln Nairobi and Oar es Salaam as early as 1993 and some members of the Nairobi cell planning he bombings were arrested and deported In 1997 · AT-Qa'ida members-lnr ludlng same who are US citizens-have resided in or traveled to the US for years and the group apparently maintains a support structure thst could aid attacks Two al-Qa'ida members lound guilty in the conspiracy to bomb our Embassies in East Africa were US cllizens and a senior EIJ member lived In Calllomla in the mkl•1990s A clandestine source said In 19 98 thal a Bin Ladin cell in New York was recruiting Muslim-American youth for attacks We have not been able to corroborate some of the more sensational threat reporting such as that from ervfpe In 1998 saying thst Bin Ladln wanted to hl ack a Us·s rcraft to gain the release of Blind Shaykh 'Umar 'Abd al-Rehman and other US-held extremists al continued For lhe Pres Iden Only APPROVED FOR RELEASEL DATE 25-April-2012 6 Auousl 2001 Declassified and Approved for Release 10 April 2004 C0 1 07 Q 63 Declassified and Approved for Release 10 April 2004 - Nevertheless FBI informallon since that time indicates pallerns of suspicious acllvlty In lhls country consistent with preparallons tor hijackings or other types 01 attacks including recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York The FBI is conducling approximately 70 lull field investigations lhroughout Iha US tha it considers Bin Ladin-relaled CIA and the FBI are Investigating a call lo our Embassy In the UAE In May saying thal a group of Bin Ladin supporters was in lhe US planning a t1acks wilh explosives For the Presidanl Only 6 August 2001 Declassified and Approved for Release 10 April 2904