Alert for 'imminent' US germ strike

An American who fought with the Taliban and was captured in Afghanistan by US marines has warned that a biological attack on a US target is planned before Christmas.

John Lindh, 20, held near Mazar-i-Sharif, told interrogators that an act of sabotage involving biological weapons is imminent, the Washington Times reports today.

He is said to have revealed that "phase two" of al Qaeda's terror campaign against the US would begin at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which comes on Sunday, and the third phase would "result in the destruction of the entire country".

Lindh was not high up in al Qaeda, and the information is regarded with suspicion by US intelligence officials, but General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it is being taken seriously. President Bush warned last week that a terrorist attack might be imminent.