Airlines, Police Warned of Threats -Report

Oct 16, 2003

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has warned police and airlines to be on heightened alert citing "multiple reports" of terrorist threats, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

An Oct. 10 memo sent to security and law enforcement officials across the country, but not released publicly, repeated earlier warnings about terrorists' plans to attack "soft targets" such as hotels, the newspaper reported.

The Washington Post said it had obtained the memo which also reiterated terrorists' interest in launching chemical, biological or radiological attacks in the United States or against American interests overseas.

"Some reports indicate that a large attack could follow a series of smaller operations in the Middle East and South Asia," the newspaper quoted the alert as saying.

The Washington Post said the new memo warns that al Qaeda operatives continue "to develop plans for using commercial aircraft against targets in the U.S."

The advisory cites a number of intelligence reports but also said that Homeland Security does not know times, targets or locations of possible attacks, the newspaper reported.

An agency spokesman was quoted as saying that the alert was not based on new intelligence, but was meant to "maintain the awareness and the heightened security level for our homeland security professionals in our country."

The Department of Homeland Security could not be reached for comment on the report early on Thursday.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&ncid=578&e=4&u=/nm/20031016/ts_nm/security_report_dc