March 24, 2005
Reuters
DUBAI (Reuters) - Two Islamist groups have said they caused Wednesday's explosion at a Texas oil refinery which killed 15 people but the U.S. FBI said there was no evidence of "any criminal or terrorist activity."
An unknown group, calling itself al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in the United States of America, said it would issue a detailed statement and video of the attack later. The statement was posted on the Internet on Thursday.
Another group, Army of the Levant, also posted an Internet statement on Thursday claiming responsibility for the blast at the BP plant in Texas City, Texas.
It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the statements.
London-based Islamist activist Yasser al-Sirri, whose own Web site monitors other Islamic sites, said the statements did not seem credible. "They came too late after the incident and had no details whatsoever," he said.
One of the sites removed both statements shortly after they were posted.
FBI spokesman Al Tribble in Houston, Texas, said on Thursday there was no evidence of foul play at the BP refinery, the third largest in the United States.
"There's been no evidence of any criminal or terrorist activity," he told Reuters. The FBI sent agents to the plant on Wednesday, but Tribble said to his knowledge, none were there on Thursday.
BP said on Thursday it could not pinpoint the cause of the explosion, but ruled out a terrorist attack on the complex. It was the third fatal accident at the plant in the last year.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7999858