EXCLUSIVE AN ISLAMIC CONNECTION?

The bombing has some of the hallmarks of Islamic terrorists, intelligence experts tell TIME correspondent Edward Barnes. They discounted American radical groups for several reasons. Among them: few, if any, U.S. groups have the skills used in this bombing, and the car bomb is a signature weapon of several Islamic groups, but no known American ones. In addition, perhaps coincidentally, there was a major national conference of a large Muslim group in Oklahoma City last weekend. The group, the Islamic Society of North America, is normally considered moderate, but Barnes says it has promoted a number of radicals to leadership roles in recent months. Experts interviewed by TIME today also said that Oklahoma City was not necessarily a surprising spot for a terrorist attack, since it has a huge Middle Eastern population drawn by the area's oil fields.TIME'sOklahoma Explosion Page.TIME'sOklahoma City bombing message board.