Alerts still focus on Saturday
Friday, 21 September 2001 17:06 (ET)
By MICHAEL KIRKLAND, UPI Legal Affairs Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (UPI) -- U.S. security officials have been told to be
on special alert Saturday because of intelligence that terrorists could
strike again.
Government agencies were already on an extremely high state of alert
Friday because of last week's terror attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon.
The new focus on Saturday as a possible date for renewed attacks
represents something of a reversal in the government's position.
Justice Department officials said Wednesday that intelligence pinpointing
Saturday as a possible attack date had been examined and ultimately
rejected. But officials began backing away from that blanket assertion on
Thursday.
An internal e-mail memo Thursday, signed by Deputy Attorney General Larry
Thompson, warned federal employees that the FBI had "credible evidence" that
more terror attacks were planned. Thompson is the department's No. 2
official and directly oversees the FBI.
Friday, U.S. officials were focusing on Boston, Washington and Los
Angeles.
In Massachusetts, state and Boston officials said they were specifically
warned by Attorney General John Ashcroft of possible attacks this weekend.
Justice Department officials declined comment.
Boston's Logan International Airport was the departure point for two of
the airliners hijacked last week and crashed into the World Trade Center in
New York City, with officials now estimating the death toll at more than
6,000.
Meanwhile, Ashcroft was completing a tour of the Sept. 11 crash sites,
where operations are rapidly being converted from search and rescue to crime
scene analysis.
Earlier in the week, the attorney general visited the Pentagon near
Washington, where one airliner hijacked after taking off from Dulles
International Airport, west of the city, was deliberately driven into one of
the most recognizable American buildings. The death toll at the Pentagon,
including the 64 people on the plane, was put at 189.
Ashcroft was joined Thursday by FBI Director Robert Mueller. The two
officials inspected the crash site of a fourth airliner, one which departed
from Newark, N.J.
Officials believe passengers - who were aware of the terror attacks using
airliners in New York -- may have rushed the cockpit and fought with the
hijackers to prevent the plane from being used as an airborne bomb against a
high-profile target. All 65 aboard the plane died.
Friday, Ashcroft and Mueller were in New York, inspecting what has become
known as "Ground Zero." Both World Trade Center towers collapsed after they
were rammed by the big planes.
Also on Friday, the FBI said the figures of people caught up in the
massive investigation have changed.
Officials now say that more than 80 individuals are being held by the
Immigration and Naturalization Service because of problems with their
immigration status, down from an estimated 115 earlier in the week.
The Justice Department Friday released the "charging documents" of 33 of
those who have been detained by the INS. The documents were heavily redacted
- the names were blacked out, as well as some other information.
Of the 33, six were from Jordan, six were from Egypt, four were from
Pakistan, four were from Saudi Arabia, three were from India, two were from
Israel, two were from Iran, two were from Tunisia and one each were from
Algeria, Palestine and El Salvador.
One person was described as being a native of Israel, but the person's
current citizenship was edited out.
Mueller said last week that "some" of those being detained by the INS
because of their status were cooperating with the FBI investigation.
The number of persons being sought on an FBI "watch list" has grown to
more than 230, up from 200 earlier this week. The FBI stressed that those on
the list were not necessarily suspects, just people the bureau would like to
interview.
Investigation details are still under seal because of grand jury
investigation in White Plains, N.Y., just outside New York City. The
investigation was moved to the northern suburb to escape the devastation in
Manhattan. Grand jury investigations are secret under the federal rules of
court procedure.
However, officials indicate that although a number of people are being
held on material witness warrants, in addition to those being charged with
immigration violations, no one has yet been charged directly with
involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The FBI has released the names used by 19 hijacking suspects on the four
airliners. All of whom are believed to be dead. The names, which are
accessible from the bureau's Web site at fbi.gov, are not necessarily valid,
officials stressed. The Justice Department is looking into allegations that
some of the names may be the result of identity fraud or identity theft.
By Friday, the FBI received more than 134,000 tips and leads in the
ongoing investigation: 70,169 were sent online through a form accessible at
fbi.gov; 51,747 came through the bureau's field offices across the nation,
and another 12,196 were phoned in on the FBI's hotline, also accessible at
fbi.gov.
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Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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