Terrorist targets, Washington maps found in October raid

Associated Press WriterSARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) -- NATO authorities who raided a Saudi aid agency last fall found computer files containing photographs of terrorist targets and street maps of Washington with government buildings marked, a senior U.S. official disclosed Thursday.

The October raid of the Sarajevo office of the Saudi High Commissioner for Aid to Bosnia also netted a computer program explaining how to use crop duster aircraft to spread pesticide, and materials used to make fake U.S. State Department identification badges and credit cards, the official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A high-ranking Bosnian government official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the findings.

The material included photos of targets of past terror attacks -- the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the USS Cole and the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the American official said. The pictures showed the targets both before and after the attacks.

The officials did not say which buildings were marked on the Washington maps.

The U.S. official said there were also signs that millions of dollars were missing from the Saudi agency and unaccounted for.

The agency was founded by Saudi Prince Selman bin Abdul-Aziz to help children orphaned during Bosnia's 1992-95 war and has claimed it has spent more than $600 million doing so.

A man who answered the phone at the agency Thursday said no one was available to comment on the latest report. In the past, agency officials have denied having any ties to terrorists.

The raid of the agency coincided with the arrests last October of six Algerian-born men, including one, Sabir Lamar, who had worked for the Saudi organization. All six were handed over last month to U.S. authorities, who have said they had evidence implicating the suspects in planned post-Sept. 11 attacks on Western targets.

Lamar was the son-in-law of a local employee of the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo who had the keys to the building, the U.S. official said. The U.S. and British embassies had shut down for several days prior to the arrests of Lamar and the other five suspects; it was not immediately clear whether Lamar was the reason for the shutdowns.

The six suspects -- including Bensayah Belkacem, who U.S. officials allege served as Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant in Europe -- are being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The other four suspects -- Mustafa Adir, Muhamed Nehle, Lakdar Bumedien and Budelah Hadz -- were former employees of other Arab humanitarian agencies operating in Bosnia. Bosnian officials have said they are investigating the agencies.