PITTSBURGH -- After 9/11, we heard vague comments from officials about a possible terrorist link to our city, but nothing concrete.

Now, Channel 4 Action News has obtained the first-ever specific information tying al-Qaida to Pittsburgh, and a possible plan of attack.

The following exclusive by Team 4 investigative reporter Jim Parsons first aired Nov. 4, 2004, on Channel 4 Action News at 6 p.m. Watch Jim Parsons' Report

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Back in October 2001, it was widely reported that Pittsburgh was on a list of seven U.S. cities cited as possible targets of terrorism.

We also knew then that, for a time, police provided around-the-clock security at the U.S. courthouse on Grant Street.

Now, we know why. Law enforcement sources tell Team 4 it wasn't a vague threat. It was very specific.

When you think of the top targets for terrorism in the United States, Pittsburgh probably doesn't come to mind. It does for Ken McCabe.

McCabe: "I think the possibility of us getting hit in the future is there."

McCabe retired last month from the FBI. His last two years were spent heading up the agency's Pittsburgh office.

McCabe: "We know al-Qaida knows about Pittsburgh. We know that al-Qaida has supporters in the Pittsburgh territory. We have a number of terrorism investigations ongoing that we're involved with."

McCabe won't comment on specific investigations or threats, but sources inside the U.S. Justice Department confirm to Team 4 that in the days following the attacks of 9/11, American intelligence agents in Hamburg, Germany, discovered plans for a possible al-Qaida assault in Pittsburgh.

The target was the U.S. Post Office and courthouse in Pittsburgh. The plan, involving a car and a tractor-trailer packed with explosives, was chillingly specific. The terrorists would focus on the back of the courthouse, where a lone security guard was stationed.

First, the driver of the car would pull onto the loading dock, pretend to have mechanical trouble, and kill the guard. Then, the driver of the tractor-trailer would pull up next to the building and set off a detonation intended to duplicate the 1995 attack on the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City.

Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney: "At or around that time, we received some information that there were a number of federal facilities around the country that could potentially be targets of terrorist activity. This building was one of them."

Federal law enforcement sources tell Team 4 that, at about the same time they uncovered the potential threat on Pittsburgh's federal courthouse, they also discovered surveillance information specifically about Pittsburgh in two far-off places: Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan.

In Saudi Arabia, sources say intelligence agents found a cache of photographs and written descriptions of potential targets in Pittsburgh, including bridges and tunnels. They also discovered written information about Pittsburgh inside a cave in Afghanistan, though it was not as specific.

As alarming as all of that information is, it is at least three years old. What is not dated is the suspicious activity that has been happening around western Pennsylvania at fuel terminals.

One of those suspicious incidents occurred in May at a Washington County fuel terminal. Employees tell Team 4 -- and federal sources confirm -- that two men were found inside the terminal. When an employee questioned them, the men spoke in broken English and said they wanted to purchase fuel tanker trucks. The men left before police arrived.

Just a few weeks earlier, a fuel tanker was stolen from a terminal in New Jersey. That truck is still missing.

Parsons: "What's the potential for someone to use a stolen oil tanker filled with fuel as a weapon of terrorism?"

McCabe: "It's a good potential."

Investigators caution that the fuel terminal incidents in western Pennsylvania may be innocent and may have nothing to do with terrorism. Nonetheless, they are concerned, because of this:

McCabe: "We know that there are al-Qaida representatives overseas who have communicated with individuals from the western Pennsylvania and West Virginia area. We know that from some of the investigations that have been conducted overseas, from some of the military operations that have taken place in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq."

Steven Emerson, nationally known terrorism expert, NBC analyst: "There are ongoing investigations in Pittsburgh."

Emerson says the connection between Pittsburgh and al-Qaida was established more than 20 years ago, when El-Sayeed Nosair lived in the Steel City. Nosair is serving a life sentence for the 1990 murder of Rabbi Maier Kahane in Manhattan and plotting the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

Emerson: "The reality is El-Sayeed Nosair, the guy that shot Maier Kahane in 1990 and was indicted in 1993 for bombings, came from Pittsburgh. The fact is they can come from any place. We just don't how bad the threat is."

Let's talk about some of the steps law enforcement has taken to protect us from the kind of threats we've shown you.

At the federal courthouse in Pittsburgh, multiple armed guards now patrol the back loading dock. Also, a security gate has been installed.

Around our many bridges and tunnels, surveillance cameras and sensors have been installed.

The U.S. Coast Guard has more than doubled its staff in Pittsburgh and conducts armed patrols that routinely board vessels in local waterways.

At fuel terminals, utilities and other similar facilities, the FBI has provided security briefings to help companies protect themselves.

Across Pennsylvania, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on homeland security since 9/11. Law enforcement tells us we have never been better protected. Yet, the FBI and U.S. attorney continue to urge everyone to be vigilant to help prevent a terrorist strike in our community.