[Mb-civic] A washingtonpost.com article from: barbarasiomos38@webtv.net

Sun Aug 1 12:28:41 PDT 2004

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 New Threat for Select Financial Buildings

 By Juliet Eilperin and Mike Allen

  Citing what he said was unusually specific information warning of terrorist attacks, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge today raised the threat level for the financial services sector of Washington, New York City and northern New Jersey. 

 Ridge said that in those three areas, the information pointed to five possible targets: the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in Washington; the New York Stock Exchange and the Citicorp building in New York; and the Prudential Bache building in Newark, N.J. Ridge said the information indicated the attack or attacks would probably be by a car or truck bomb.

 Ridge announced the increase in the threat level in a televised news conference at 2 p.m. He said the threat level for the financial services sector in those three areas was being raised to orange, or "high," on the government's color-coded scale. The rest of the nation is at yellow, or "elevated." 

 Ridge said intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security officials had amassed "extraordinary detail" about the possible attacks in the last 24 to 36 hours. 

 "This is not the usual chatter," Ridge told a group of reporters and editors during a 1 p.m. conference call prior to the televised news conference. "We have in this case a most unusual set of circumstances, a convergence of information that compels us to talk publicly about specific potential targets."

 Administration officials, who typically stress that threat information is vague and base their alerts largely on the volume of monitored communications, said the intelligence was some of the most specific they had ever received. A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic, called the information "much more specific than we've ever been able to provide before." 

 Calling it the highest level detail he has seen concerning a possible terrorist strike in the past quarter of a century, the official described how attackers have identified everything from the average daily flow of pedestrians outside the targeted buildings to security procedures inside. 

 "This is a hallmark of al Qaeda's planning. They are meticulous," he said. "There has been extensive reconnaissance . . . over an extensive period of time."

 In the course of their communications, the officials said, the terrorists note possible sewer system escape routes, the locations of nearby fire departments and police precincts, and whether individual security guards carry guns. 

 "Getting up to the higher floors is not very difficult if you go there midweek, as I did," one suspected terrorist was quoted as saying. In a separate communication, a potential attacker warned, "You must provide an adequate cover story."

 Ridge said he did not believe the alert would disrupt the Republican National Convention, which is to begin Aug. 30 in Manhattan. "New York operates at a level of security that is as good as any in the country," he said. "It's a very well-protected city." 

 The administration first released the information during the 1 p.m. conference call, with the agreement the information would be withheld until Ridge spoke on television. The administration said that was because officials knew the announcement would create anxiety and raise questions with the public. 

 Ridge said he would install "additional protective measures" around the targeted buildings, and would hope to disrupt the terrorists' plans by revealing them to the public.

 Dealing with car and truck bombs is "one of the most difficult tasks we have in the war against terror," he said.

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