FBI warns of new al-Qaida threats

WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) -- The FBI has warned 18,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies al-Qaida will issue a new call for use of weapons of mass destruction, ABC News reports.

The FBI told ABC there was no evidence of a direct threat but that the bulletin was issued as a precaution.

"There have been several reports that al-Qaida will release a new message calling for the use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko told the U.S. network in an e-mail.

The terror group's supporters were expected to post a new video on the Internet within 24 hours, intelligence and law enforcement sources told ABC. One source said that video was expected to call on "jihadists to use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to attack the West."

The FBI spokesman noted similar messages have been released in the past and that the agency and Department of Homeland Security "have no intelligence of any specific plot or indication of a threat" to the United States.

Ben Venzke, chief executive officer of IntelCenter, a group that monitors terrorist communications on the Web, downplayed the importance of such videos.

"Supporter videos are made by fans or supporters who may not have ever had any contact with a real terrorist," Venzke said.