FBI, Homeland Security warn of summer bus, train plots in U.S. cities

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

From: "Ted Dolotta" <Ted () Dolotta ORG>

These guys (FBI & HSD) are real rocket scientists ...

It only took them 3 weeks after the March 11 attacks on
the Madrid railways to figure out it could happen here ...

Who would have thought that bombs could be hidden in backpacks
and even duffel bags!

Ted Dolotta
=======================================================
War on Terror

FBI, Homeland Security warn of summer bus, train plots in U.S. cities

By Curt Anderson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 2, 2004

WASHINGTON - Trains and buses in major U.S cities may be targeted this
summer by terrorists using bombs hidden in bags or luggage, federal
counterterrorism officials have told law enforcement and
transportation officials in a nationwide bulletin.

FBI and Homeland Security Department officials said they had received
uncorroborated intelligence reports about a plot by terrorists to
target commercial transportation systems. The bulletin, issued late
Thursday, mentioned no specific cities or dates and did not elaborate
on the source of the information.

A senior federal law enforcement official, speaking Friday on
condition of anonymity, said the intelligence, coupled with the deadly
March 11 commuter train attacks in Madrid in which bombs went off
inside backpacks, has increased the level of wariness about a similar
attack in the United States.

Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel said the company stepped up security
after the Madrid bombings, including use of bomb-sniffing dogs,
although the company's trains have received no specific or credible
threats. "It should not be considered unusual that the FBI should
issue this kind of a bulletin in the wake of what occurred in Madrid
last month," Amtrak said in a statement.

Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said information in the
bulletin was being shared via the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System to ensure proper security measures are
implemented around the country.

Officials said the message was sent mainly out of an abundance of
caution, and the threat - deemed "somewhat credible" by one official -
was not causing undue alarm throughout the government.

The nation's terror alert level remains at yellow, or elevated, the
midpoint of the five-color scale. It was last raised to orange, or
high, on Dec. 21 amid suspicions about terror attacks using commercial
aircraft. The level returned to yellow on Jan. 10.

Passengers could see changes because of the bulletin. Federal
officials are encouraging local transit authorities to conduct random
passenger inspections and security sweeps of stations and to increase
public announcements encouraging people to report unattended baggage
or suspicious behavior.

It would be fair to say public transit systems are at "code yellow-
plus," said Greg Hull, director of operations, safety and security for
the American Public Transportation Association.

Lynn Brown, spokeswoman for Greyhound Lines Inc., said at its Dallas
headquarters that the bus company tells employees to be extra vigilant
when such alerts are circulated. She said, however, that the sort of
passenger inspection methods used by airports are impractical at the
company's 3,600 locations, with 18,000 departures daily.

Intelligence indicates a plot might involve bombs made of ammonium
nitrate fertilizer and diesel fuel, similar to the explosive concealed
in a rental truck that blew up an Oklahoma City federal building in
1995. Both items are easily available around the country.

These improvised bombs would then be concealed in luggage and carry-on
bags, such as backpacks or duffel bags, and detonated either aboard
buses or trains or in transportation stations, according to the
government warning. A viable explosive could be concealed in luggage,
it says.

Al-Qaeda and other terror groups have "demonstrated the intent and
capability" of attacking public transportation systems using a variety
of bombs, the bulletin says. Attacks in Israel, Greece, Turkey, Spain
and elsewhere have used suicide bombers or triggered bombs with timers
and cell phones.

Between 1997 and 2000, more than 195 terror attacks occurred on
transit systems worldwide, according to congressional investigators.

In Spain on Friday, police found a bomb connected to a detonator with
a 450-foot cable under tracks of a high-speed railway between Madrid
and Seville. Disposal experts disarmed the bomb.

British authorities arrested nine people this week on suspicion of
having links to a possible terror plot that involved 1,000 pounds of
ammonium nitrate. It is unclear whether that alleged plot involved a
public transit attack.

More than 9 billion trips are taken each year on the U.S. public
transportation system, with 32 million trips every weekday - about 16
times the number of trips taken on airlines, according to the American
Public Transit Association.

The association estimates that $6 billion is needed to upgrade and
modernize U.S. transit systems to meet security needs. The
Transportation Security Administration dedicated only $10 million for
passenger rail and public transit security in the current year's
budget, according to the House Homeland Security Committee.

"Failure to invest in the security of passenger rail and public
transit could leave these critical systems vulnerable to terrorist
attack," the committee's Democrats wrote in a letter to Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge. "Making these systems as safe as they
can be from terrorist attack must be a high priority."

After the Madrid bombings, the Homeland Security Department announced
a series of security initiatives, but no major new funding plans were
proposed.

Associated Press writer Katherine Pfleger Shrader contributed to this
story.

c Copyright 2004 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.  

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