Washington: US intelligence officials believe Osama bin Laden has been plotting a high profile political assassination to lead off the next major al-Qaeda terrorist attack, a media report said in Washington.

"The killing could be carried out against a US or foreign leader either in the US or abroad, like Saudi Arabia or Yemen, two nations that are working with the US in the battle against al-Qaeda," 'The Washington Times' reported, quoting US Intelligence officials who wished to remain anonymous.

The planning for the attacks, said one official, involves "multiple targets in multiple venues" across the US.The new details of al-Qaeda's plans, said the paper were found on a laptop computer belonging to arrested al-Qaeda operative Mujhammad Naeem Noor Khan of Pakistan. The planning, said one official "is very detailed".

Khan was arrested July 13 in Lahore along with Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian indicated in the 1998 US Embassy bombings in Africa. Ghailani was on the FBI's (Federal Bureau of Investigation) list of most wanted terrorists.

US and other counter-terrorism officials, said the paper are pursuing leads on other terrorists based on the data from Khan's seized laptop.At least one arrest in Britain has been made so far and others are expected, the officials said.

Additionally, US Intelligence officials said they think that several al-Qaeda terrorists already in the United States are part of the plot, although their identities and locations are not known.