Washington, D.C.

Prisoners say 9-11 hijackings were first of three attacks

John Walker Lindh and other al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners told U.S. interrogators the Sept. 11 hijackings were supposed to be the first of three increasingly severe attacks against Americans. Their claims have not been corroborated, government officials said.

Lindh will be sentenced today, likely to 20 years in prison, for supplying services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during commission of a felony. He heard some of the claims while serving in a 20-man Taliban infantry unit of Arabic speakers in Afghanistan, according to people familiar with his account.

Authorities have gathered similar information from prisoners of various levels of the terrorist network. But the officials said the United States hadn’t found specific plans for two additional large-scale attacks.

One law enforcement official said some al-Qaida and Taliban prisoners said the second and third wave attacks could involve biological, chemical or radiological weapons.

Pakistan

Amid tension, Pakistan tests medium-range missile

With border tensions between South Asia’s nuclear neighbors running high, Pakistan test-fired a new surface-to-surface missile today, official media announced.

Uneasy neighbor India was given prior warning of the test, according to the state-owned Associated Press of Pakistan.

The missile is one in a series of medium-range missiles in Pakistan’s arsenal, all capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads.

Both India and Pakistan conducted underground nuclear tests in 1998 and both say they have introduced nuclear weapons in their arsenals, but neither has specified the type or number of nuclear weapons.

New York

WorldCom network troubles cause major Internet delays

Some Internet users faced heavy delays reaching Web sites and accessing e-mail Thursday because of widespread technical troubles on WorldCom’s long-haul network.

WorldCom’s backbones carry a large portion of the Internet traffic in the United States.

Also, many smaller service providers use WorldCom as the primary means to connect their customers to the Internet.

WorldCom spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said the problems began about 7 a.m. CDT. She said service to many customers had been restored by early afternoon, and technicians were working to restore others.