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Threats Against Buildings in NY, NJ, DC
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John Henry
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Aug 02, 2004 04:07 PDT
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Gov't Warns of Threats Against Buildings
By Jennifer C. Kerr
August 1, 2004
WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government warned Sunday of possible
terrorist attacks against ``iconic'' financial institutions in New York
City, Washington and Newark, N.J., saying a confluence of intelligence over
the weekend pointed to a car or truck bomb.
Specifically, the government named these buildings as potential targets:
The Citicorp building and the New York Stock Exchange in New York City.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank buildings in Washington.
The Prudential building in Newark.
``The preferred means of attack would be car or truck bombs,'' Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge said in a briefing with journalists. That
would be a primary means of attack.''
The government said the new intelligence indicated the meticulous planning
of al-Qaida. He identified explosives as the likely mode of attack, as
opposed to a chemical or biological attack or a radiological ``dirty'' bomb.
Ridge said the government's threat level for financial institutions would
be raised to orange, or high alert, but would remain at yellow, or
elevated, elsewhere.
Ridge said it would be up to New York City officials to decide whether to
move to the highest level, red. The city has remained on orange since the
attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The threat potential remains through the Nov. 2 elections, Ridge said.
The secretary said the government took the unprecedented step of naming
specific buildings because of the level of specificity of the intelligence.
``This is not the usual chatter. This is multiple sources that involve
extraordinary detail,'' Ridge said. He said the government decided to
notify the public because of the specificity of detail it had obtained.
Ridge acknowledged that protecting these buildings, located in heavily
populated areas, would require additional security measures, especially
because thousands of cars and trucks travel through these cities daily.
``Car and truck bombs are one of the most difficult tasks we have in the
war on terror,'' Ridge said.
Local and state officials were notified earlier in the day and Ridge said
new security procedures were already being implemented.
The government provided a wealth of detail that it had picked up in the
past 36 hours, but a senior intelligence official described it only on
condition of anonymity. The official described ``excruciating detail'' and
meticulous planning ``indicative of al-Qaida.''
The official said the intelligence included security in and around these
buildings; the flow of pedestrians; the best places for reconnaissance; how
to make contact with employees who work in the buildings; the construction
of the buildings; traffic patterns; locations of hospitals and police
departments; and which days of the week present less security at these
buildings.
To illustrate the level of detail obtained, the official cited these
examples: midweek pedestrian traffic of 14 people per minute on each side
of the street for a total of 28 people; that some explosives might not be
hot enough to melt steel; and that the construction of some buildings might
prevent them from falling down.
The official said he had not seen such extraordinary detail in his 24 years
in intelligence work.
A White House spokeswoman, Erin Healy, said the intelligence on the threat
is ``very new, coming in during the last 72 hours.''
``The president made the final decision today agreeing with the
recommendation of Secretary Ridge to go ahead and raise the threat level in
these select areas,'' Healy said.
This was the first time the color-coded warning system had been used in
such a narrow, targeted way, Ridge said at a news conference at department
headquarters.
``With this kind of information comes action,'' Ridge said. ``This is
sobering news.''
This step will ``bring protective resources to an even higher level'' and
alert industry employees to be extra vigilant, he said. Actions to tighten
security around the five buildings he specifically named are under way,
Ridge said.
He said workers at those buildings should get guidance from security
officers at each site and remain alert as they go to work.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040801/D846J6DG0.html
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