Jihadi forum suggests terror targets

U.S.-born al Qaeda propagandist Adam Gadahn encouraged acts of individual jihad in a June 3 video, the FBI says.FBI says list appears aspirational in natureIt contains the names of more than 40 people and photos of 26A law enforcement official told CNN there is no indication a specific plot exists

Washington (CNN) -- A potential hit list suggesting individuals in U.S. government, industry and the media was posted on jihadi Web forums, according to an FBI intelligence bulletin obtained by CNN.

The FBI document was dated June 8 and says "while the information posted was detailed, it appears aspirational in nature and it is unknown whether the threat will progress beyond discussion" on the Internet.

The bulletin says forum members posted the names of more than 40 people and included photographs for 26 of the suggested targets. The FBI noted there has been an uptick in postings on jihadi sites since Osama bin Laden's death during a U.S. military raid but said this list has "the most target specific threat postings" since his demise.

The FBI said the list was spurred by a June 3 video featuring American-born al Qaeda propagandist Adam Gadahn "in which he encourages acts of individual jihad." The first Web post made note of Gadahn's call for assassinations. That led other forum members to start suggesting possible targets.

The man now at the helm of al Qaeda | Video

The web posts include the suggestion to collect photographs as well as home and work addresses for the people on the possible target list. The bulletin says the the list includes target suggestions ranging from U.S.-based think tanks to military contractors.

Al Qaeda has used the English-speaking Gadahn in numerous videos.

The FBI document notes that in one from March 2010 Gadahn "called for small attacks in the United States, but failed to have any observable resonance within the online extremist community." But the bulletin warns bin Laden's death may cause those who share his ideology to be more receptive.

A law enforcement official told CNN there is no indication a specific plot exists.

The official did not know if all the individuals on the list of possible targets had been briefed by law enforcement or whether they had been given any recommendations to protect their safety.

The FBI bulletins are intended for use by law enforcement and homeland security officials.

CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve contributed to this report

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Secret memo suggests FBI had a mole inside ABC News in 1990s

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Update at 5:56 p.m. ET: Gawker claims it knows who the mole was: Christopher Isham, now the Washington bureau chief for CBS News and a network vice president. He declined to comment, and a CBS spokeswoman said, "This is a matter for ABC News."

Read Gawker's report to see how it deduced the informant's ID -- and how CBS responded to the initial report.

By Douglas Stanglin
USA TODAY

Original post: A once-secret memo shows that the FBI treated a senior ABC News journalist as a potential confidential informant in the 1990s, beginning with information the reporter supplied at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, The Center for Public Integrity reports.

The journalist's name is not disclosed in the document, which is labeled "secret."

But it shows that the journalist not only cooperated with the FBI in the 1995-96 period, but provided the bureau with the identity of a confidential source in what the center calls a possible breach of journalist ethics.

The center quotes one journalism professor as saying that the fact that the journalist was given an informant number and had contributed information in the past indicates he or she was sharing the information in the public good.

ABC News tells CPI that it is not certain about the identity of the journalist, but does not believe he or she still works for the network.

Spokesman Jeffrey Schneider tells the center, however, that the FBI description of its interactions with the reporter raises serious concerns about intrusions on the First Amendment.

The memo was recently discovered by a Utah lawyer who found it -- unredacted and still marked 'secret' -- in a box of documents gathered by attorneys for Terry Nichols, a defendant in the Oklahoma City bombings.

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Bill Clinton Suggests Arming Libyan Rebels

Associated Press

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WASHINGTON -- Former President Bill Clinton says the Obama administration should consider arming rebels fighting to oust strongman Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya. 

Clinton tells ABC News in an interview that he "sure wouldn't shut the door" to assistance for the rebels, reflecting a position that some in Congress have urged President Obama to pursue. 

In the interview broadcast Monday, the former president said he might "need to know a little more" before settling on the position of aid to the resistance fighters. Clinton emphasized that he was "just speaking for myself," but said he would not dismiss the option of giving assistance to the rebels. Qaddafi has been clinging to power in the wake of an uprising that started in February.

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