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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