Possible links to al-Qaida focus of plot investigation

The international investigation into an alleged airline-bombing plot increasingly targeted possible al-Qaida links Friday as U.S. officials downplayed the danger to travelers.

"We don't have any evidence that there's an actual threat or cell here in the United States," White House counterterrorism adviser Fran Townsend said. She made the rounds of the morning talk shows to assure airline passengers that it was safe to fly.

Investigators probing the alleged conspiracy to blow up as many as 10 trans-Atlantic aircraft increasingly focused on possible connections to al-Qaida. Pakistani officials announced that they had arrested a British citizen, Rashid Rauf, as a potential mastermind of the alleged plot.

Rauf, believed to be related to Tayib Rauf, one of 23 suspects in British custody, has been linked to al-Qaida by Pakistani authorities and is believed to have guided planning for the attack.

"That's the guy to go after. Rauf is the key," a U.S. intelligence official said. The official described Rauf as "very competent" and skilled in both planning and operational details.

Pakistan Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said Friday that Rauf was connected to al-Qaida but offered no further information.

U.S. authorities said they still don't know enough to determine a precise relationship between Rauf and al-Qaida.

"He's spoken to somebody, but we are not sure who," the intelligence official said. "That's part of the reason he is a key. Was it al-Qaida or al-Qaida-inspired? That is still being assessed."

In London, the Bank of England froze the accounts of 19 British suspects, as details on their backgrounds emerged in news accounts. One man arrested in Thursday's roundup was released Friday.

Most of the suspects were born or reared in Britain. Some are of Pakistani descent. Several came from middle-class families.

In Italy, authorities reported arresting about 40 people during a security crackdown prompted by the news from Britain. None was accused of terrorism-related offenses, however. The charges were immigration violations and property offenses, a police statement said.

Officials on both sides of the Atlantic remained tight-lipped about details of the alleged plot and the lengthy investigation that led to Thursday's arrests. Townsend, the White House counterrorism adviser, said it wasn't clear whether the alleged plotters planned to blow up planes over the Atlantic or wait until they were flying over major U.S. cities, with the hope of more casualties on the ground.

"We're going to need more time to understand the full dimensions of the plot," she said.

British Home Secretary John Reid said the investigation was "still very much an ongoing operation."

Meanwhile, U.S. airports functioned normally for the most part Friday, although security workers continued to enforce tightened screening rules that prohibited passengers from carrying liquids or gels aboard flights. Travelers adjusted by packing those items in checked baggage or leaving them behind.

British transportation and airline officials said flight delays continued in Britain, especially at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest. A British Airways spokesman said about 120 of the airline's 700 daily departures and arrivals at Heathrow were canceled, compared with 652 cancellations Thursday. He said 12 long-haul flights between the U.S. and Britain were canceled — six between London and New York, and two each between London and Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Although U.S. and British officials expressed confidence in new airport-security measures, they also warned about the possibility of copycats or spin-off operations.

"There are other people out there who are terrorists and terrorist sympathizers," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said during a visit to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. "We want to make sure there are no copycats, no one who is inspired by this."

Compiled from McClatchy Newspapers, the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post