Al-Qaida calls for attacks on U.S. soil

WASHINGTON -- New intelligence indicates Osama bin Laden is enlisting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his top operative in Iraq, to plan potential attacks on the United States, U.S. officials said Monday.\nAl-Zarqawi has been involved in attacks in the Middle East but has not been known to have set his sights on U.S. soil.\nThe Homeland Security Department issued a classified bulletin to officials over the weekend about the intelligence, which spokesman Brian Roehrkasse described as "credible but not specific." The intelligence was obtained over the past several weeks, officials said.\nThe U.S. has no immediate plans to raise its national alert level, Roehrkasse said. However, the intelligence "reiterates the desire by al-Qaida and its associates to target the homeland," he said.\nBin Laden was in contact with al-Zarqawi within the past two months in an effort to enlist him in attacks, a U.S. official said on the condition of anonymity. U.S. analysts believe this shows the al-Qaida leadership needs to reach out to al-Zarqawi to get him involved in considering such activities outside Iraq, the official said.\nAl-Zarqawi is blamed for scores of attacks in Iraq and pledged allegiance to bin Laden and the al-Qaida network last year. Yet he has had differences with bin Laden, and his efforts are considered somewhat distinct from central al-Qaida operations.\nAnother administration official with access to the Homeland Security Department's bulletin said the intelligence indicates al-Qaida has continued to encourage al-Zarqawi, who was born in Jordan, to get involved in terrorist actions against Americans outside of Iraq, including in the United States.\n"The intelligence continues to be analyzed by the intelligence community, and all appropriate information will be passed on to homeland security partners," Roehrkasse said. "The department has no plans at this time to raise the threat level based on this nonspecific information"