Sources tell Fox News the terrorist “chatter” that U.S. intelligence analysts picked up in the past two weeks –exceeding anything witnessed in the last decade, and prompting the closure of nearly two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across the Arab and Muslim world – included exhortations from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to key leaders of AQAP (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), demanding they step up their activities in the wake of recent killings of top terrorists.
A Mideast diplomat says al-Zawahiri has been “pressuring” AQAP, and that the pressure localized al-Qaeda figures have been subjected to, aimed at getting them to launch new terrorist attacks on Western and American targets, is “unprecedented.” This is what has led to the extraordinary volume of “chatter” picked up by U.S. signals intelligence following a period of months of “absolute quietness” on terrorist phone lines, computer outlets, websites, and the like.
Sources say al-Zawahiri has always been a bigger proponent than his predecessor, Usama bin-Laden, of a more centrally managed al-Qaeda terrorist structure, has always sought to “micromanage” AQAP, and is attempting now to assert management authority over individual cells, even if it is largely illusory.
Sources say the U.S. moves were also prompted by a spate of recent al-Qaeda-led prison breaks, including...
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