Al-Qaeda may use cargo planes in attack: US

While the information was not so specific as to identify a date, time or place for such an attack, it indicated that Osama bin Laden's network was interested in using cargo planes against American targets, possibly inside the United States.

"There is threat information pointing to that as a possible means they might use, including in this country," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

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"There is nothing specific, but there is interest on their part in possibly using this (cargo plane) as a means to launch an attack against US facilities," he said.

A Department of Homeland Security official confirmed the report, saying it came from a single source whose reliability was being checked.

"While it is difficult to assess the veracity of these warnings, we remain interested in al-Qaeda's ability to carry out threats against critical infrastructure such as bridges and dams," the official said.

The source said the group may try to use cargo planes in such attacks, the official said.

Al-Qaeda is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in which hijacked planes were rammed into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon, killing about 3,000 people.

Homeland Security department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said his department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were preparing to issue a new advisory aimed at "sustaining awareness."

"The US intelligence community remains concerned about information indicating al-Qaeda's desire in carrying out an imminent terrorist attack against US interests overseas," Roehrkasse said in a telephone interview.

He said a domestic attack could not be ruled out.

The cargo plane threat was revealed a day after the State Department updated its warning on travel to the Middle East to say that ships and planes could be hijacked in the region.