Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is planning attacks on "soft targets" in the United States, including "movie theaters, restaurants and schools," according to reported comments by a former top aide to the Islamic extremist.
The comments, cited in a restricted bulletin sent out to U.S. security agencies and published by Time magazine on its Web site Sunday, come two weeks after intelligence officials confirmed that Osama bin Laden had sent a message to Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi, urging al-Qaida's frontman in Iraq to plan attacks on U.S. soil.
U.S. intelligence officials who have interrogated the aide told the news magazine that al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq, has also talked about entering the United States through its leaky southern border, by obtaining a visa to Honduras, then traveling across Mexico.
Zarqawi's aide also reportedly told interrogators that attacks on U.S. targets might already have begun if not for a lack of "willing martyrs."
Time said U.S. authorities remain vigilant and reported that security sources sent out two nationwide bulletins last week warning of a nonspecific threat to railroads in Detroit, Michigan and Los Angeles.
For several months, most claims of attacks carried out by the insurgency in Iraq, dominated by supporters of the former Baathist regime, have been issued by groups purportedly linked to al-Zarqawi's network.
