WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Al Qaeda contemplated plots against the U.S. rail sector in February of last year, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.
"We have no information of any imminent terrorist threat to the U.S. rail sector, but wanted to make our partners aware of the alleged plotting. It is unclear if any further planning has been conducted since February of last year," department spokesman Matthew Chandler said.
The Department of Homeland Security and other U.S. agencies have been reviewing the information from Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan seized during the raid this week that killed the al Qaeda leader.
Three U.S. law enforcement and national security officials told Reuters that the threat information cited in the Homeland Security Department bulletin was a year old.
The officials said there was no current intelligence indicating the existence of any specific threat to trains or any other target in the continental United States which had emerged since the raid.
(Reporting by James Vicini and Mark Hosenball; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
