Publishing date: 09-17-2002 11:12 AM

ABC News is reporting that the FBI is monitoring what could be al Qaida terror cells in Minneapolis and several major U.S. cities.

This new information reportedly originated from documents seized in Afghanistan camps and from intelligence developed overseas.

Along with Minneapolis, ABC News says the FBI and CIA are watching terrorist cells in Seattle; Portland, Oregon; Detroit and New York. The government says members of these groups were trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.

Several dozen American citizens are under surveillance as part of this investigation. Some are being monitored using electronic eavesdropping techniques, which include phone taps and bugs.

This information comes after last week's arrests of five American citizens outside of Buffalo. Although the men in custody are believed to have trained in al Qaida camps in Afghanistan, they have not been charged with developing any terrorist plots.

Prosecutors say the alleged western New York terror cell came under scrutiny before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and that communications had intensified among the men this month. The men had returned from Afghanistan in early summer 2001, U.S. Attorney Michael Battle said.

ABC News reports the federal government wanted to make the arrests of the men in Buffalo before finding out if they had plans for any terrorist attacks.

The Minneapolis FBI office would not confirm or comment on any possible investigations of a terrorist cell here in Minneapolis.

-- Anonymous, September 17, 2002