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FBI: Terrorists may use helicopters, limos
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-08-10 01:07
The FBI is warning that al-Qaeda could attempt to commandeer helicopters,
limousines and rental vehicles to launch attacks inside the United States.
The warning comes amid reports that data confiscated in Pakistan indicates
al-Qaeda has studied using those, as well as speedboats and divers, as tools in
a potential attack on New York City.
Limousines like this one, seen during a search at Chicago's Midway
Airport, were cited by the FBI as potential terrorist tools because they
"convey an impression or authority or prestige."
[AP] | Helicopters are more maneuverable than
fixed-wing airplanes, especially in urban areas such as New York, and the FBI
said they also have a “non-threatening appearance” that might allow them to fly
undetected and be crashed into buildings.
"Al-Qaeda has apparently considered the use of helicopters as an alternative
to recruiting operatives for fixed-wing aircraft,” said the bulletin, sent
Friday night to police and other government officials nationwide and obtained
Monday by The Associated Press.
The second bulletin, also sent Friday night, said that terrorists could use a
variety of rental vehicles to conceal powerful bombs, including limousines that
have a larger storage capacity than rental cars.
In addition, the FBI said, limousines might be able to gain access to
locations in a building — such as a parking garage — that would be denied to
other vehicles because “they often convey an impression or authority or
prestige.”
Both bulletins urge extra vigilance by people who operate car and truck
rental businesses and those who handle airport security. The FBI repeated the
government’s concern that al-Qaeda intends to attack the United States in the
next few months, prior to the Nov. 2 election.
Based on computer data
Included in information obtained on three laptop computers and 51 discs
seized in a July 24 raid in Pakistan were details of how al-Qaeda operatives
thought of using speed boats and divers to carry out attacks in New York harbor
before the November elections, Time magazine reported in its latest edition,
quoting an unidentified U.S. law enforcement official.
The plotters also were considering the use of helicopters in some New York
operations, the report said.
Time also reported that an al-Qaeda report was found suggesting the use of a
limousine instead of a truck or van to blow up the Prudential building in
Newark, N.J. The report suggested a limo would be allowed to enter the parking
structure more easily.
The New York Times, citing U.S. security officials, reported Monday that a
new directive will call for increased security measures for helicopter operators
in the New York City area.
Among the measures under review is a requirement to screen passengers for
suspicious items, a Department of Homeland Security official who was briefed on
the plan told the newspaper. No groundings are planned, the Times said, adding
that the new directive could be issued as early as this week.
New York tourist helicopters operate out of three main heliports. A domestic
security official said concern about helicopters is “restricted to New York
right now.”
U.S. officials remain concerned about a possible attack before the November
presidential election. But they told the Times there remains no evidence that
indicates al-Qaeda has moved from the planning stages to actual preparations for
an attack.
Plans raise timing question
White House officials on Sunday suggested that some of the potential plots
uncovered in the past week may have been part of a broader effort to strike the
country before the November election.
“I certainly think that by our actions now that we have disrupted it,”
Frances Fragos Townsend, President Bush’s homeland security adviser, said on
“Fox News Sunday.” “The question is, have we disrupted all of it or a part of
it? And we’re working through an investigation to uncover that.”
But Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, said that based on the information he’d seen, he believes
the Bush administration may have overstated the immediacy of the threat of an
attack.
“I have not seen any hard evidence that there was an active moment that was
contemplated in the very near term,” Biden said Monday on NBC’s “Today” show.
“If there was a smoking gun that said we know for certain that was going to
occur, I didn’t see it.”
1,000 discs seized in Britain
In cooperation with U.S. intelligence agencies, authorities in Pakistan and
Britain have detained suspected al-Qaeda operatives, while computer files
uncovered in Pakistan contained surveillance information of five prominent
financial sites in New York, Washington and Newark. The administration issued a
terror alert based on that information.
The arrests in Britain have led to the confiscation of more than 1,000
computer discs, a senior U.S. intelligence source told the New York Times. The
data was still being studied but appears to contain new information that could
lead to additional terror advisories, the Times reported.
Townsend said it is not clear how much has been uncovered about a potential
plot around the presidential election. “This certainly looks like it was a piece
of it,” she told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Besides the financial sites, counterterrorism officials have said other
places have been mentioned as possible targets. Asked whether they included the
Capitol and members of Congress, Townsend replied: “Yes, in the past and as part
of this continuing threat stream.”
“We may see additional U.S. targets,” she said. “It’s hard to judge that now
until we have a better sense of what we see out of Great Britain, Pakistan and
this arrest over the weekend in the United Arab Emirates.”
A senior Pakistani al-Qaeda operative who formerly ran one of the terror
group’s training camps in Afghanistan was arrested in the UAE and has been
handed over to Pakistani officials.
Praise for Pakistan
Both Townsend and Bush’s national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, praised
Pakistan’s efforts.
“Three years ago, Pakistan was not a fighter in the war on terrorism,” Rice
said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And here you have them able to take down
terrorists and to provide information, which then could be shared.”
Rice defended the administration’s decision to issue the terror warnings and
tighten security in the three cities even though some of the surveillance
intelligence on which the government acted dated from four years ago. Some have
questioned whether the warnings were politically motivated.
“The idea that you would somehow play politics with the
security of the American people — that you would not go out and warn if you have
casing reports on buildings that are highly specific,” Rice said. “Are you
really supposed to not tell?”
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