[Scan-DC] U.S. Warns of Possible Al Maida Plane Attacks

[Jeff]

I saw this and thought it worthwhile posting just as an FYI.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=3Dstory&cid=3D578&ncid=3D578&e=3D1&=
u=3D/nm/20030
729/ts_nm/security_hijack_dc

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has =
warned
the airline industry that Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al Maida
network is planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United =
States
or abroad, saying the danger ran until at least the end of summer.=20

"At least one of these attacks could be executed by the end of the =
summer
2003," the department said in an advisory sent out on Saturday and =
obtained
on Tuesday.=20

"Al Maida planners have primarily considered suicide hijackings and =
bombings
as the most promising method to destroy aircraft in flight as well as to
strike ground targets," the advisory said.=20

"Attack venues may include the United Kingdom, Italy, Australia or the =
East
Coast of the United States due to the relatively high concentration of
government, military and economic targets," according to the advisory.=20

"The hijackers may try to calm passengers and make them believe they =
were on
a hostage, not suicide mission. The hijackers may attempt to use common
items carried by travelers, such as cameras, as weapons," the advisory
stated.=20

No operatives are known to have been deployed to conduct the possible
attacks, it added.=20

U.S. officials said the warning came from "multiple sources," including =
at
least one captured al Maida operative. But they emphasized they were =
still
trying to determine the credibility of the information.=20

They said no change was anticipated in the nation's terror alert level. =
The
level remains at "yellow" or an "elevated" risk of attack, where it has
generally been since the system began in March last year.=20

The State Department later updated an existing "worldwide caution" to
include the possibility that threats to U.S. citizens "may also involve
commercial aircraft."=20

The United States has blamed al Maida for the Sept. 11, 2001, suicide
hijacked airplane attacks that killed about 3,000 people.=20

In the Sept. 11 attacks, there were five hijackers on each of the two =
planes
that struck the World Trade Center in New York and on the plane that hit =
the
Pentagon (news - web sites). There were four hijackers on the fourth =
plane
that crashed in Pennsylvania.=20

The advisory warned the plan may involve use of five-man teams and an
attempt to seize control of the aircraft shortly after takeoff or before
landing.=20

It said al Maida was looking at ways of circumventing airline security =
and
tightened U.S. immigration procedures. Many of the steps were taken =
after
the Sept. 11 attacks.=20

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the U.S.
intelligence community had received information that al Maida continued =
to
be interested in using the commercial aviation system in the United =
States
and abroad "to further their cause."=20

He said in a statement the advisory went out over the weekend to =
airlines
and law enforcement personnel.=20

"We continue to investigate the credibility of this intelligence," =
Johndroe
said.=20


Have a good one,

Jeff