- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- 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.
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- "This person did not pass," said Cannistraro.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- New Yorkers Taking Police Presence in Stride
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- 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.
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- Threat Is Still There
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- "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."
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- It's not the first time a captured al Qaeda operative
has made up a huge story and scared a lot of people.
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- 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.
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- 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
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- http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/terror030213_falsealarm.html
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