Updated: 2:19 p.m. ET Dec. 24, 2003Amid intensive discussions between U.S. and French officials, six Paris-to-Los Angeles flights were canceled Wednesday because of security concerns, French and U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Air France canceled three of the flights at the request of U.S. officials, while three other flights were canceled by other carriers, NBC's Nancy Ing reported from Paris.
A senior Homeland Security official told NBC News on condition of anonymity that Secretary Tom Ridge and other top officials from various agencies were consulting with their French counterparts. A senior State Department official said the State Department was also consulting with the French ambassador and that Secretary of State Colin Powell had spoken personally with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to discuss airline security, including specific flights.
A senior U.S. official told NBC's Robert Windrem that the United States had uncovered "plausible" intelligence that several flights originating in Paris would be the targets of terrorists, including the three Air France flights that were canceled. The official described the intelligence as "fairly specific. ... We do not take it for lock-solid, no-doubt intelligence, but instead I would call it plausible. It's the sort of intelligence that matches up with other stuff we received."
Some of the intelligence was "date-specific, some route-specific. ... There are other flights and routes," he said, adding without elaboration that Air France was not the only airline discussed in the reports. full story, MSNBC.
I wonder if this is the decoy routes. Dates and routes are enough to lead us down a very narrow road, as far as investigations go. I just hope we're not a bull charging into the red cape.