Feb. 13 — A key piece of the information leading to recent terror alerts
was fabricated, according to two senior law enforcement officials in
Washington and New York.The officials said that a claim made by a captured
al Qaeda member that Washington, New York or Florida would be hit by a
"dirty bomb" sometime this week had proven to be a product of his imagination.
The informant described a detailed plan that an al Qaeda cell operating in
either Virginia or Detroit had developed a way to slip past airport
scanners with dirty bombs encased in shoes, suitcases, or laptops, sources
told ABCNEWS. The informant reportedly cited specific targets of government
buildings and Christian or clerical centers.
"This piece of that puzzle turns out to be fabricated and therefore the
reason for a lot of the alarm, particularly in Washington this week, has
been dissipated after they found out that this information was not true,"
said Vince Cannistraro, former CIA counter-terrorism chief and ABCNEWS
consultant.
It was only after the threat level was elevated to orange — meaning high —
last week, that the informant was subjected to a polygraph test by the FBI,
officials told ABCNEWS.
"This person did not pass," said Cannistraro.
According to officials, the FBI and the CIA are pointing fingers at each
other. An FBI spokesperson told ABCNEWS today he was "not familiar with the
scenario," but did not think it was accurate.
Despite the fabricated report, there are no plans to change the threat
level. Officials said other intelligence has been validated and that the
high level of precautions is fully warranted.
New Yorkers Taking Police Presence in Stride
In New York, police are out in force in the subways, at train stations and
airports and at the bridge and tunnel crossings into the city with
radiation detectors and gas masks. In a press conference this afternoon,
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 16,000 law enforcement officials trained to
combat terrorism were deployed in the city. Air patrols have also returned
to New York.
"We are constantly changing what we're doing so no one can predict what
instruments we'll be using and where we'll be going," Bloomberg said. The
mayor stressed that while people should be vigilant, they should also be
aware that New York City has been on code level orange for 17 months —
since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.
New Yorkers, and people around the country, should not be frozen by fear
and must carry on with their daily lives, the mayor said. New York Gov.
George Pataki said it is important for people to be alert to anything
suspicious around them, but that they should not spread rumors that could
create panic.
‘Threat Is Still There’
"By no means do people believe the threat has evaporated," said
Cannistraro. "The threat is still there, the question really is the timing
and when this is going to happen."
It's not the first time a captured al Qaeda operative has made up a huge
story and scared a lot of people.
The FBI concluded the information that led to a nationwide hunt for five
men suspected of infiltrating the United States on Christmas Eve was
fabricated by an informant, and the agency called off the alert sparked by
the information.
Officials said this one got so far because it coincided with other
intelligence, that officials still believe points to a coming attack, timed
to hostilities with Iraq.
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/terror030213_falsealarm.html
What do Saudi Arabia and America have in common at the moment?...both are doomed
