The FBI has information that Al-Qaida organization may be planning attacks on shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago during the holiday season, according to statements of officials released on Thursday.

"As of August 2007, Al-Qaeda planned to strike U.S. shopping malls in Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, during the 2007 Christmas season. Al-Qaeda hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and had been planning the attack for the past two years," the report said.

The threat is as questionable as its source is and arrived at the FBI office in late September. The FBI response came quickly in a statement that they reported online which said: "This information was obtained through a lengthy chain of acquisition, and was provided to the source by a sub-source who spoke in confidence. The veracity of the information is uncertain but the threat is being reported due to the nature of the information."

FBI representative Richard Kolko sustained the same thing naming the information not “credible,” although the message is very clear.

On the other hand Chicago Police Acting Superintendent Dana Starks said that they don’t want to ruin people’s holyday season making them worry about possible threats: "We do not want to be rumor mongers; it did not make sense to make that notification and cause undue fear and concern, or anxiety, among residents or people of Chicago," MSNBC reported.

She also stated that although the information is not veridical, they would consider it due to the nature of the threat, but in the same time she wanted to encourage people not to be led by fear. "Chicago is as safe and secure as any big city can be," she said.

In another statement released by the office of Governor Rod Blagojevich people were advised to go through the holydays without any concern: “We encourage people to go about their holiday shopping and preparations as they always would," MSNBC reports.

However, the authorities advised people to remain vigilant and “report suspicious activity to authorities,” Mr. Kolko said.