| The acting director of the CIA said Tuesday that Osama bin Laden must be aware of any planning for a terrorist attack to disrupt the U.S. elections because operatives believed involved in the plot have been closely associated with him. In an interview with The Associated Press, John McLaughlin, who took over the agency this week while President Bush decides who to name as permanent director, also said the CIA has enough personnel in Iraq to recruit the necessary intelligence sources there. McLaughlin's rise from deputy to acting director came after Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned last week of a heightened period of alert for a terrorist attack, given the upcoming elections and assessments indicating Muslim extremists may want to disrupt the democratic process and influence the outcome. McLaughlin said Ridge based his announcement on "very solid" information. Although local terrorist cells appear to have more autonomy, McLaughlin said bin Laden is still thought to be knowledgeable of any plotting under way. "It would be very hard for me to imagine that he is not aware of all of this planning because the people responsible for it are people with a history of close association with him," McLaughlin said. Last week, a senior intelligence official, briefing reporters on the condition of anonymity, said U.S. authorities were working to understand whether cells were part of the al-Qaeda organization or offshoots of it. |