Posted on 05/20/2003 9:24:29 PM PDT by FairOpinion
Heightened Alert Administration Increases Terror Threat-Warning Level to Orange; E-mails Cited
May 20— The Bush administration raised the domestic threat level to orange, or "high," today, a decision made in part because of a series of threatening messages found on the Internet, ABCNEWS has learned.
An FBI bulletin obtained by ABCNEWS points to two recent e-mails intercepted by U.S. intelligence. One message, according to the bulletin, warns of "a possible devastating attack in the next 48 hours and urged all Muslims to leave all cities, especially Boston, New York and the commercial coastline."
However, one government official said intelligence analysts have serious doubts about the credibility of the source of those messages.
A separate message targets Washington and again points to possible attacks against New York and the nation's beaches.
The nation's terror-alert status was yellow — the third level, signifying "elevated." Orange is the fourth level, and red is the fifth and highest level.
In New York City, site of the deadliest attack on Sept. 11, 2001, officials announced earlier today that they were heightening security measures.
"We're concerned about some of the information that is coming to us," said New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. The information was nonspecific, but was enough to spark an increase in Operation Atlas, the city's ongoing security program, he said.
He said uniformed and plainclothes officers were being added at sensitive locations, and more checks would be conducted at the city's bridges and tunnels.
In raising the national threat level, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge encouraged governors and mayors to deploy additional police. Ridge "particularly discussed with them the venues in which there will be large public gatherings" during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, said Asa Hutchinson, Ridge's undersecretary for border and transportation security, while announcing the decision in Washington.
While officials said there is not credible, specific information with respect to targets or method of attack, Ridge said in a written statement that recent attacks overseas underscore terrorists' desires to attack soft targets with methods such as suicide bombers or car bombs. "Weapons of mass destruction, including those containing chemical, biological or radiological agents or materials, cannot be discounted," he said.
FAA to Issue Some Restrictions
In wake of the heightened terror alert level, the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday is expected to issue a notice restricting some flights. The new restrictions will include:
A ban on flying over sporting events.
The suspension of some of the waivers that were granted to allow flights for aerial photography, crop-dusting, surveillance and banner towing in selected airpaths over the Washington area.
The return of restrictions on small planes coming into the three general aviation airports in the Washington area. Pilots will have to fly to an airport in Tipton, Md., for security screening before they can proceed to one of the three affected airports.
For now, the FAA will not reinstitute the flight restrictions over New York that were put in place during the last code orange alert.
Ripples Around the World
The move to code orange follows bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia that killed more than 70 people, and warnings by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security that al Qaeda is still in business and could be planning attacks in the United States or overseas.
In its bulletin, the FBI said today there is reason to believe the "Saudi Arabia and Morocco attacks [are] a possible prelude to U.S. attacks," according to law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
In a previous bulletin issued on Friday to law enforcement agencies, the FBI warned that al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden's terror network, "remains active and highly capable." The deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia last week suggested al Qaeda could launch new attacks in the United States and overseas, the agency said.
The U.S. government has warned consulates in the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa and Southeast Asia that an attack might be imminent. ABCNEWS has learned that the information comes from foreign intelligence agencies, informants, and intercepts of telephone conversations and e-mails of suspected al Qaeda members.
The United States is specifically concerned that al Qaeda may try to crash a plane into a U.S. consulate — or attack airliners and tanker ships in East Africa, sources said.
The latest warnings came a day after Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, said he believed the suicide bombers who struck in Riyadh last week were planning another, larger attack.
The warnings of possibly imminent terror attacks caused Western officials around the world to take precautions.
The United States and Britain said they were temporarily closing their embassies and other missions in Saudi Arabia as of Wednesday because of possible imminent attacks.
Terror Alerts
The terror alert was last raised from "yellow" to "orange" on March 17, immediately after President Bush announced that he was giving Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to leave Iraq and go into exile or risk a U.S.-led military campaign.
The Bush administration lowered the national terror alert from "high" to "elevated" status on April 16, as the war in Iraq wound down.
The threat level also was elevated to orange for two weeks last September to coincide with the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and from Feb. 7 to Feb. 27.
President Bush's Homeland Security Council decided to raise the alert during a meeting at the White House, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. After the session, Bush was informed of the council's decision, which is binding and takes immediate effect, by Chief of Staff Andrew Card at 1:50 p.m. ET.
In his written statement, Ridge recommended that Americans continue with plans for work or leisure and contact their local FBI offices about any suspicious activity.
"Your vigilance at large public events or other locations where crowds gather can help us disrupt terrorists' plans," he said.
ABCNEWS' Pierre Thomas, Mary Walsh, Beverley Lumpkin and Lisa Stark contributed to this report.
Life's a beach, and then you die.
If they had raised the alert level to red, I'd be more concerned. A one-stage upgrade, considering the recent overseas attacks, is a reasonable precaution, but a two-stage upgrade would have caught my attention.
and never return?
and never return?
Hmm.... I wonder where that Egyptian cargo ship is these days...you know, the one with the sailor who died of anthrax - or not.
Something like the old Atlantic City Board Walk, Coney Island, etc? Similar stuff in California. Another possibility, although I like "ports" better. Translation is such an inexact art. Very difficult to do by machine for instantance (check out Babelfish translations of AFP articles for example). Even harder if the context is unknown or ambiguous. Or if the speakers/writers are trying to "talk around" something.
Even harder when the "writer" can't spell/type for Shiite. :) Arabic is a language of such long standing, I would imagine it's spelling is more regular than English, which is an evolving hybrid language, although it's pronounciation might vary considerably. That is there might be a "Casablanca" accent or dialet that would sound strange to "Baghdad" ears.
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