Interesting. I've never seen a story in a major newspaper be so explicit, and have a govt official deny it so vehemently. Guess we'll have to go with Aschroft and the INS on this one for the time being, but I wonder who is planting these stories? Looks like disinformation from somewhere or other. All I can say is, I hope Ashcroft is right, there would be hell to pay if we found that he is out of the loop. And let's see what the Miami paper has to say.
Here's this morning's story:
A senior law enforcement official told The Herald Washington Bureau on Wednesday that the information on the six men was in the classified Daily Threat Report earlier this week, which is compiled from different sources by the Counter-Terrorism Center at the CIA and distributed to selected officials at the FBI and other agencies.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the men were carrying photos and descriptions of a Florida nuclear power plant and the Trans-Alaska pipeline. He said police released the men after the INS determined they were in the United States legally and had valid Israeli passports.
Russ Bergeron, INS spokesman in Washington, issued a statement that said ``the INS and the FBI have thoroughly researched the story published [Wednesday] in The Miami Herald and other Knight Ridder newspapers. Both INS and the FBI believe this report is totally false.
I would be very worried if there were such a senior law enformcement official, lying about something this important, or a reporter for a major newspaper, lying about something this important and wasting law enforcement officials' time.
miami.com |
