The authorities said tonight that ballistics tests had matched the rifle to the weapon used in the meticulous attacks that spread hit-and-run havoc across the Washington metropolitan region.
To this point, the manhunt has been a 17-day frenzy punctuated by meticulous single-shot attacks and a dearth of promising clues.
Mr. Mueller said analysts who had studied past attacks believed that Al Qaeda would not begin an attack without meticulous planning and said its operatives appeared to be deterred by security that diminishes their chances for success.
The attacks called for meticulous planning and co-operation among an extended network of conspirators, yet apparently took the authorities entirely by surprise.
The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, which were marked by meticulous planning in terms of how the attacks would unfold, fueled speculation that Al Qaeda may have been behind the Khobar Towers bombing.
The meticulous coordination and sophistication of the attacks in Paris indicate the plot was hatched well in advance, but perhaps initiated as a sudden response to the group's military setbacks.
Germany's field-devouring attack is contrasted by the meticulous passing and probing of Spain.
In fact, Morell's concludes that the consulate attack was not an insidious, meticulous affair and occurred "with little or no advanced planning "and "was not well organized".
Pakistan has denied any connection to the attacks in Mumbai, though their meticulous planning, coordination and precision imply a level of direction that no ordinary militant group is capable of.
