'Al-Qaeda planning more attacks'

LONDON, NOV. 12. Osama bin Laden's network of supporters in Saudi Arabia is planning a strike against government or U.S. military interests in the oil-rich desert kingdom, a leading Saudi dissident said today.

``There is credible information of an impending attack inside Saudi Arabia - and one wonders whether inside America itself,'' Mr. Saad al-Fagih, head of the London-based Movement for Islamic Reform, said.

Osama, prime suspect behind the September 11 hijack attacks on the United States, is believed to be sheltering in an Afghan hideaway as U.S. jets and troops from the opposition Northern Alliance pound troops of his Taliban protectors. But the tentacles of the Saudi-born multi-millionaire's Al-Qaeda network of Islamic extremists stretched well beyond the borders of Afghanistan, Mr. Fagih said, and permeated deep into Saudi society.

``Osama has thousands of supporters in Saudi Arabia, who look upon him as a national hero. A member of his circle speaks very confidently about something happening there soon.''

Mr. Fagih added that Al-Qaeda cells could be at

large in the U.S, waiting for the green light to go into action. Such fears had been behind the recent warnings from U.S. authorities that landmarks such as San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge could come under attack from explosive-laden trucks.

He added that advances by the Northern Alliance were a major psychological boost for the ``war on terrorism'', but said the U.S.-led coalition was far from getting its man. ``If Kabul falls, you still have 50 per cent of the country left under the Taliban and even if they have just 10 sq. km. left, they will defend Osama to the last.''

- Reuters

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