NEW YORK, July 14: United States Intelligence agencies have ``solid information'' that relatives of Pakistani national Mir Aimal Kansi, accused of killing two Central Intelligenc Agency (CIA) officials in 1993, are considering a retaliatory strike against American targets, senior administration officials were quoted as saying.

Kansi, who absconded after the killings, was apparently duped into coming from his hideout in Afghanistan to Pakistan only to be captured by agents of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and brought to the US last month to stand trial for the murders. The American news magazine, Newsweek, quoted intelligence sources as saying that ``the Kansi clan, an influential family in the Pakistan-Afghan border region, has discussed the possibility of an attack on its home turf or in the US''. The intelligence agencies are taking the reports seriously and the security has been heightened at the US embassies and other possible targets.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.