POLITICS: FBI Didn't Seek to Hire Terror Experts

State-sponsored terrorism is no longer the only terrorism problem. There are new terrorists--loosely organized groups and ad hoc coalitions motivated by perceived injustices or ideologies, along with domestic groups and disgruntled individual American citizens. They have attacked the U.S. at home and abroad. Terrorists represent the very worst of criminals--they attack without regard to the lives of their victims, and they generate fear intended to intimidate nations and democracies. The growing and changing threat of terrorism in the United States has required a well-coordinated and decisive response from the federal law enforcement community. For example, the FBI established a Counterterrorism Center in 1996 after the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed. Eighteen federal agencies maintain a presence in the Center. It was created to strengthen the FBI's ability to track potential terrorist threats, prevent attacks, and investigate events that do occur. The Center has provided invaluable assistance in recent terrorist incidents, including the attacks on the United States Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

A probe into suspected Al Qaeda fund-raising was blocked by the FBI in a petty turf war, a customs chief said last night.
Joe Webber, a Sept. 11 survivor and now chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston, said FBI chiefs stood in the way of his probe. And he alleged they barred it because the information came from outside the bureau - despite President Bush's directive that law enforcement agencies must work together to beat terrorism.