Intelligence
officials from the United States have been stunned by claims by the
Iraqi Prime Minister that ISIS militants are planning to carry out
terror attacks on the New York and Paris subways.
Prime
Minister Haider al-Abadi today claimed to have received 'credible'
information from intelligence officials in Baghdad that foreign fighters
belonging to ISIS were plotting attacks.
Asked if the attacks had been thwarted, he said, 'No' but added that America had been alerted.
The
U.S. National Security Council was quick to say there was no evidence
to suggest any such plot exists but adding it would look into any
evidence.
The
statement was echoed by numerous US officials in a move that suggests
the authorities are skeptical of the claims by a man who has much to
gain from an intensified military campaign against ISIS.
Threat: Iraq's Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi said he was told of the plot by intelligence officials in
Baghdad, and that it was the work of extremists originally from the U.S.
and France who have been fighting for ISIS
Radicals: ISIS supporters slogans as
they carry the group's flags in front of the provincial government
headquarters in Mosul, Iraq. Militants in the country are suspected of
plotting the New York and Paris attacks
National Security Council spokesman Caitlin Hayden said: 'We
have not confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any
information from our Iraqi partners before making further determinations
We take any threat seriously and always work to corroborate information
we receive from our partners.'
Mr
Abadi made his remarks at a meeting with journalists on the sidelines
of a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly
in New York today.
He
said that the suspects included Islamic extremists originally from the
United States and France who have been fighting alongside ISIS
terrorists in Iraq.
'Today, while I am here, I am receiving accurate reports
from Baghdad where there was [the] arrest of [a] few elements
and there are networks planning from inside Iraq to have
attacks,' he said.
'They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the
U.S.,' he added, speaking in English. 'From the details I have received, yes it looks
credible.'
'They are not Iraqis. Some of them are French, some of them are Americans. But they are in Iraq,' Mr Abadi went on to say.
His claims were quickly slapped down by U.S. officials, however.
'We’ve
seen the reports of Prime Minister Abadi’s comments. We have not
confirmed such a plot, and would have to review any information from our
Iraqi partners before making further determinations,' said Caitlin
Hayden, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council.
'We
take any threat seriously and always work to corroborate information we
receive from our partners. We’re obviously very focused on the issue of
foreign fighters, as you saw evidenced yesterday at the Security
Council session the President chaired, she added.
Force: A handout picture made
available by the US Department of Defense today shows a formation of US
Navy F-18E Super Hornets refueling having carried out airstrikes on
targets linked to ISIS
Allies:
Last Friday French President Francois Hollande (left) ordered his
country's air force to carry out attacks on ISIS targets in Iraq. In
doing so, France joined a 'broad coalition' of nations agreeing to
support plans by U.S. president Barack Obama (right) to 'degrade and
eventually destroy' the terrorist group
Strikes: A U.S.-led coalition opened
airstrikes inside Syria on Monday, expanding weeks of attacks by the
United States on Islamic State targets in Iraq
The
Iraqi Prime Minister said that he received the information from
intelligence officials based in Baghdad earlier this morning.
In
addition to the brutality Islamic State has visited on the people of
Iraq and Syria, western leaders have voiced concern that the group would
turn its terror operations outside the region.
A
U.S.-led coalition opened airstrikes inside Syria on Monday, expanding
weeks of attacks by the United States on Islamic State targets in Iraq.
A
fresh wave of airstrikes from the United States and its Arab allies hit
ISIS oil refineries overnight, killing at least 14 militants and
striking at the heart of the terror group's funding.
ISIS
generates up to $2million a day from the sale of oil, employing highly
trained engineers to extract thousands of barrels a day from the vast
swaths of Syria and Iraq under the terror group's control.
BEHEADED FRENCH HOSTAGE WILL BE AVENGED, COUNTRY VOWS AS TRIBUTES PAID TO MARRIED FATHER OF TWO
Thousands
of Algerian soldiers supported by helicopters are hunting for the
ISIS-linked Islamist terrorists who beheaded a French mountaineer in a
sickening video released yesterday.
Herve
Gourdel, 55, was captured by the Islamist group Jund al-Khilifa while
hiking in the Djurdjura National Park on Sunday - just one day after he
arrived in Algeria for a 10-day walking holiday.
Mr
Gourdel was brutally murdered yesterday, less than 24 hours after
militants uploaded a video to YouTube warning that the married
father-of-two would be killed unless France pulled out of a coalition of
nations bombing targets connected to the ISIS in Iraq.
Murdered: Herve Gourdel, 55, (pictured
right, holding a water bottle) was captured by the Islamist group Jund
al-Khilifa while hiking in the Djurdjura National Park on Sunday - just
one day after arriving for a walking holiday
Execution: ISIS-linked militants in
Algeria beheaded Herve Gourdel yesterday after he was captured at the
weekend. The group earlier made threats to kill Mr Gourdel if France did
not stop bombing targets in Iraq
By
early this morning some 2000 soldiers were involved in the search in
the Tizi Ouzou region, along with 500 marines supported by sniffers
dogs. 'Everything will be done to bring the killers to justice,' said a
spokesman for Algeria's Defence Ministry.
The
news came as France's defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian revealed his
country is considering whether to expand airstrikes into Syria to assist
a U.S. and Arab coalition in thwarting ISIS' advances.
There
are 30,000 French citizens living in Algeria, where Mr Gourdel was
brutally murdered yesterday by militants loyal to ISIS - the terror
group led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi which controls a swath of territory
larger than Britain and a population of four million brutally oppressed
citizens.
Asked
about the French citizens living in Algeria, Mr Le Drian told RTL
radio that the goal of the extremist groups is to 'spread terror.
Experienced:
Mr Gourdel was a professional mountaineering guide and amateur
photographer. Although he enjoyed spending time in remote locations
around the world, he was always extremely careful, friends said
Grieving: This morning tributes were
paid to murdered professional mountaineering guide Herve Gourdel by
locals in his home city of Nice, where a book of condolence was opened
in his memory
The Algerian government last night reiterated its commitment to protecting foreign residents living inside the country.
There
are fears that other radical Islamist groups may carry out copycat
attacks on Westerners following calls to do so by ISIS on Sunday.
The
kidnapping and murder of Gourdel, however, is believed to be a crime of
opportunity, since Algeria's extremist have been confined to remote
mountainous regions and the French mountaineer was one of only a very
few foreigners to venture into this area.
This
morning tributes were paid to the professional mountaineering guide,
both from politicians and from locals in his home city of Nice, where a
book of condolence was opened in his memory.
Mr Gourdel - a passionate amateur photographer - was a married father of two adult children.
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