Washington, June 19: Prisoners held at the U.S. military detention center at Guantanamo Bay have provided valuable intelligence about al-Qaida and helped thwart terrorist attacks, the FBI said. Some of the prisoners have asserted that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden had prior knowledge of the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole, a guided missile destroyer attacked while refueling at the port of Aden, Yemen.
Interrogation of prisoners has uncovered new details about the planning of these deadly attacks by al-Qaida, which also is blamed for the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
The FBI, in its weekly bulletin to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies, yesterday said prisoners "provided information that has led to the thwarting" of an unspecified plot against an oil tanker in the straits of Hormuz, the busy entrance to the Persian Gulf.
The prisoners have described the locations of numerous terrorist training camps and safe houses around the world, and given investigators the identities of some al-Qaida operatives, according to the FBI.
Bureau Report