Western intelligence is concerned that Al-Qaeda is plotting to launch terrorist attacks to influence the presidential elections in the United States, the New York Sun has reported. Messages from Al-Qaeda’s leaders to operatives telling them to be ready for action have been intercepted by the intelligence community, the report said.

“These are generic orders,” the report quoted a counter-terrorism source as saying. “It was, ‘Be on notice. We may call upon you soon.’ It was sent out on many channels.”

The report quoted various experts as saying that Al-Qaeda was more likely to launch terrorist attacks overseas in an attempt to influence the election, rather than attacking inside the United States.

Al-Qaeda has a history of timing their attacks to coincide with elections. In 2004, Osama Bin Laden released a videotape threatening the United States if President Bush was re-elected. Experts disagree on whether Bin Laden was trying to scare voters into voting him out of office, or whether he was trying to help the President’s re-election prospects. Al-Qaeda has also launched attacks in Spain and Pakistan around the time of elections.

The counter-terrorism group Northeast Intelligence Network recently issued a warning about a potential attack on the U.S., Europe, and their interests overseas. The organization said that activity on radical Islamic web sites and Internet forums had caused them to issue the warning, citing messages about upcoming attacks that were believed to be credible.