Afghanistan, Al Qaeda | featured news

The young Afghan immigrant at the center of an expanding investigation holds the key to unlocking the details of an alleged bomb plot that authorities believe is the first Al Qaeda-linked terrorist operation on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, law enforcement and intelligence officials said Sunday.

Authorities revealed that an American - charged with providing information to al-Qaida on the New York transit system and attacking a U.S. military base in Afghanistan - has been a secret witness in the fight against terror both here and overseas.