Four Asian countries helped foil Al-Qaeda attack

WASHINGTON: A pair of South Asian countries and two others in Southeast Asia helped the United States foil an Al-Qaeda plot to crash a hijacked plane into Los Angeles's tallest skyscraper, a senior US official said.

The cooperation displays the ties that the United States has developed with Southeast and South Asia since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, said White House counterterrorism adviser Frances Townsend.

Townsend disclosed the number of Asian countries involved in stopping the Los Angeles plot after President George W. Bush earlier revealed that the United States had thwarted the attack with the help of its allies in 2002.

The White House had mentioned a plot against the US West Coast last October without offering more detail. Thursday, however, Bush revealed that the plan involved flying an airliner into Los Angeles's 310-meter (1,017-foot) US Bank Tower, also known as Library Tower.

Townsend said four countries had helped thwart the attack against the US West Coast's tallest building. "Two in South Asia, two in Southeast Asia," she told reporters in a conference call.

But she refused to name the four countries "because our partners want to have it kept a secret."

"The good news is, we have strengthened our relationship throughout that region in South Asia and Southeast Asia with our partners since 9/11," she said.

The United States has an anti-terror pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

ASEAN members Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, together with non-member Pakistan have all been cooperating closely with the United States on terrorism. Washington, Friday, Reuters