Sources at several law enforcement agencies tell ABC News that an "overseas source" has provided the information about the threat to New York and that it is more significant than the usual "chatter" intercepted from likely terrorists that has prompted warnings in the past.
Officials from dozens of local and federal agencies met into the night Friday and again this morning.
Intelligence sources say al Qaeda plans to move non-Arab terrorists across the border with Mexico. Authorities already have in custody a woman of Pakistani-origin arrested after crossing into Texas. She carried a South African passport with several of the pages torn out, $7,000 in cash and an airplane ticket to New York.
New York is already on heightened alert for the Republican National Convention, which meets at Madison Square Garden in a month and will bring scores of high government officials to town.
The sources tell ABC News that Wall Street firms may be among the targeted U.S. corporations based in New York City. Which corporations or how many may be targeted has not been revealed.
Suicide Truck Bombings
Particularly disturbing to authorities were the intelligence reports that the attack may involve one or more suicide truck bombings, a tactic never seen in the United States, but one widely used by terrorists elsewhere.
"I think they want to try and shake our psyche again," says Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant and former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management. "And I think the easy types of attacks right now are car bombs, truck bombs."
from abcnews.com
there's more on the second page
Law enforcement officials acknowledge such bombs are extremely difficult to prevent.
As to the timing of any planned attack, sources say it could take place between now and Election Day in November.
As the government tries to verify the reports of the threat, there are no plans to raise the national threat level, a senior Bush administration official tells ABC News.
ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas and Bob Jamieson contributed to this report
Wouldn't surprise me if it shakes the cobwebs off a few 'camp' gates as well.
Except for the WTC Bombing #1 and the OKC Bombing.
a tactic never seen in the United States,
What about Oklahoma City?
Vincente won't like that unless he gets a hefty pay off.
Not new news for us here in the SW. Just this past week NM received its own terror warning. Go to the FR NM topics page and read several articles on this, especially the Tombstone Tumbleweed. The official Border Patrol line is silence, but some agents are talking anonymously. They have captured some ME types but others have gotten away.
Of course, any attack validates Bush's axis of evil strategy -- attack them there before they attack us (again). The only thing I can fault Bush on is the lack of border security, both with Mexico and with ME illegals overstaying visas, no central immigration list, etc. The latter may be coming but probably not soon enough. The former is not in the cards as the admin is pandering to the Latin vote.
There gonna probably go after the landmark buildings. The 2 buildings that better have heavy security, are the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building.