[lbo-talk] N.Y. Police Terror-Threat Warning - watch out for everything, all the time

[Dwayne Monroe]

[Advice includes being on guard against
"...unanticipated deliveries or maintenance work,
people taking unusual video or photographs, and
visitors claiming to be lost or looking disoriented.
The warning also said bomb threats may be used to
evaluate emergency response time." 

Yes, I understand perfectly.  So, I suppose the
highest level of danger is posed by an unanticipated
delivery of maintenance workers who, in the course of
their unexpected arrival, take unusual video and/or
photos while looking about in a disoriented way
claiming (don't be fooled vigilant citizen!) to be
lost.  Doubtless one of them, in the confusion, will
take the opportunity to call in a bomb threat from his
toss-away cell phone to test emergency response times.
]




N.Y. Police Issue Terror-Threat Warning



NEW YORK - New intelligence that the al-Qaida
terrorist network plans to attack financial or
international institutions in New York City has
prompted police to urge extra security precautions at
various city buildings.

The warning, announced Saturday night, didn't say how
the attacks might be carried out or when they would
occur.

But ABC News, citing anonymous sources, reported
Saturday night that al-Qaida planned to send
terrorists across the Mexican border into the United
States, and that suicide attacks were being planned in
the city, possibly using trucks.

The network said attacks may be planned between now
and Election Day. The Republican convention begins in
New York on Aug. 30.

A woman with a South African passport was arrested
near the U.S.-Mexico border last week when she tried
to board a flight to New York with about $7,000 in
cash. Officials told The Associated Press they were
investigating whether Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed, 48,
had ties to al-Qaida or other terrorist groups.

The city's alert level remained at "orange," the
second-highest point on the five-step terror alert
program set up after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The
city has stayed at that level since the attacks.

According to court documents, Ahmed, 48, provided a
South African passport that was missing four pages.
ABC reported that she was of Pakistani origin.

According to flight itineraries, Ahmed traveled from
Johannesburg through Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to
London and on to Mexico City. Authorities said she
later told them she was smuggled into the United
States from Mexico by crossing the Rio Grande.

Kyle Welch, Ahmed's court-appointed attorney, said his
client is not charged with any terrorist activity and
does not have a criminal record. She was denied bond
on Tuesday.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, the ranking Democrat on the House
Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, said "very
credible" people told him Ahmed has traveled within
the United States more than 250 times.

The Associated Press reported last week that
authorities believed crime syndicates operating within
the South African government were believed to be
selling illegal passports for as little as $77 apiece.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The New York Times for
Sunday editions that the warning to bolster security
came after talks Friday night and Saturday between
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Pasquale Damuro,
assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York
office.

Police had no additional comment when contacted by The
Associated Press on Sunday.

The warning gave tips on general business security
measures, such as checking employee identification
cards and updating emergency plans.

It also gave some things to look out for, including
unanticipated deliveries or maintenance work, people
taking unusual video or photographs, and visitors
claiming to be lost or looking disoriented. The
warning also said bomb threats may be used to evaluate
emergency response time. 



from -

<http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040801/ap_on_re_us/terror_threat&cid=519&ncid=716 >