Intelligence officials say a key figure in al Qaeda's North American operations is Adnan Shukrijumah, who is being sought by the FBI for the past several years. One official said Shukrijumah recently was seen in Mexico and earlier had been in Canada near a university with a nuclear reactor, leading to concerns that he was seeking radioactive material for a radiological bomb.

Among those providing the information: Musaad Aruchi, nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also in custody. Aruchi gave up Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, who "is linked" to the 1988 embassy bombings. When Ghailani was arrested, so was Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a Pakistani who had a laptop containing years old terrorism information.

The computer did not contain specific information about plans for a major attack in the United States, but the information did lead to the raising of the national terrorism alert levels in Washington and New York.

Why is the Administration releasing this information now? Is supposed to make us vote for Bush because he's more likely to prevent the attack? If it's real, why are the officials refusing to be named?

Jesse Taylor at Pandagon adds these thoughts.