Bush Aide: No Evidence of Imminent Threat
Friday, August 13, 2004
WASHINGTON — Two weeks ago, when Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge (search) warned of possible Al Qaeda attacks, the "where" was very specific: financial institutions in New York City, Washington and Newark, N.J. The "when," however, was a mystery.
And since Ridge's announcement, the Bush administration has discovered no evidence of imminent plans by terrorists to attack U.S. buildings, a White House official acknowledged Thursday.
Some documents and computer files seized in Al Qaeda (search) raids included surveillance reports of the financial buildings during 2000 and 2001, which prompted warnings Aug. 1 from the White House about possible threats. But nothing in the documents themselves has suggested any attack was planned soon, the official said.
"I have not seen an indication of an imminent operation," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity with reporters from nearly a dozen news organizations. Investigators are still poring over volumes of the seized information.
Immediately after the warning, police sealed off some streets near the Citigroup Center building and the New York Stock Exchange (search) in New York; put employees at the International Monetary Fund (search) and World Bank buildings in Washington through extra security checks; and added barricades and a heavily armed presence around Prudential Financial Inc.'s headquarters in Newark.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,128906,00.html