Anarchist Buzz Concerns Intel Officials

March 7, 2008— -- Twenty-four hours after a gunpowder-packed ammunition case exploded at Times Square's military recruiting booth, authorities across the U.S. and Canada are concerned about an intelligence uptick on anarchist and anti-war activities, even as they actively hunt for the bomber and any links to five suspicious individuals stopped at the Canadian border about a month ago.

ABC News has learned that Canadian authorities and the FBI met in Canada Friday to go over in detail evidence seized during that crossing and to establish what, if any, initial, firm links can be made to the New York bombing.

According to multiple senior officials from multiple agencies, a number of early versions of the crossing and the materials seized were erroneous to one degree or another, and this meeting would be the first in which all the catalogued evidence would be reviewed.

"Five or six different versions have emerged," one participant in the meeting said. "One of the purposes is to clear these up and get to the facts." A disc containing images of all the evidence seized was given to U.S. authorities at the meeting.

The pictures and other materials found in connection with the men stopped in Canada may not ultimately be directly linked to the bombing, but they represent part of what one senior official called "concentric, overlapping circles" of anti-war protest, what another called "part of a buzz on an anarchist uptick," and what still a third confirmed as a growing concern to authorities.

The lengthy letter offering political advice sent to congressmen and a picture of the Times Square recruiting center that ABC News has learned the letter writer used as a Christmas card -- while ruled out as linked to the bombing -- were also seen as an example of that uptick.

According to a senior law enforcement official involved in that part of the investigation, the letter writer was "extremely cooperative," allowed a consensual search of his home and provided information to authorities that satisfied them that he was not involved and that he may have sent at least 270 letters to members of Congress.