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<p>WASHINGTON — The nation's recent Code Orange terror alert was triggered by a new U.S. intelligence source that, for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, allowed officials to get specifics about how al-Qaeda was planning to use international flights for imminent attacks in the USA, four top government officials say.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON — The nation's recent Code Orange terror alert was triggered by a new U.S. intelligence source that, for the first time since the 9/11 attacks, allowed officials to get specifics about how al-Qaeda was planning to use international flights for imminent attacks in the USA, four top government officials say.</p>

<p>The nation's terror alert level was raised to orange in the weeks leading up to the holiday season because of threats that Al Qaeda (search) was possibly looking to use explosives on Air France flights, Fox News has confirmed.</p> <p>For the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, a U.S. intelligence source was able to give officials such specific information about how Usama bin Laden's (search) terror group may be planning imminent attacks in the United States using commercial airliners, U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News. The source provided strategic and tactical details of how the terror network wanted to carry out terror attacks on American political and economic targets.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The possibility of a terrorist attack has diminished enough to reduce the nation's terror alert, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Friday, but he warned the threat was not over. "Critical resources and locales" will remain on heightened alert, and there still is concern about al-Qaida's interest in using commercial planes to mount an attack, Ridge said. Certain airports as well as the cities of New York, Washington and Los Angeles will continue to have increased security, said a Homeland Security official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Ridge said that after a careful review of intelligence...

BUTLER, N.J. (AP) - Rehab Elmoslemany had been at Newark Liberty International Airport for more than seven hours, waiting for a much-delayed flight to Egypt while security officials questioned her about who she was, where she was going and why. It was after midnight on Christmas by the time she, her husband and their two children were allowed to board their flight to Alexandria for a family wedding. The kids kicked off their shoes, and 6-year-old Kareem Abdel-Kader whined that he was hungry. Then two men walked up the aisle and ordered the family off the plane, refusing to say...

Homeland Security to announce at 11:30AM Eastern

<p>High Threat Alert Level over Holidays: Is America Any Safer?</p> <p>From this intercept, one thing you come away with is that these *chatterers* don't appear to be great fans of George W. Bush, with wave after wave of angry attacks on the White House, shattering hopes Saddam's capture would slow down such attacks. (Clearly these guys have been eating too much beef from Washington and Oregon).</p>

The Office of Homeland Security will announce at 11:30am today that the terror level will be lowered from Orange to Yellow. That is level BERT for those of you using the Sesame Street Level Indicators.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell singled out Paris for praise following French cooperation in stepped up security checks on airline passengers as America remains on high alert for potential terror attacks. The top US diplomat also thanked war-on-terror ally Britain for its cooperation, as well as neighboring Mexico. "With respect to airline flights, we had some information over the holiday period with respect to certain individuals with names that hit our database," Powell said. "A lot of these names have not only duplicates, triplicates, but many similar names and it takes a while to sort through...

FRENCH authorities yesterday confirmed they were searching for an Afghan man who had failed to board one of the Air France flights cancelled amid fears of an imminent terror attack over the Christmas period. The man, named as Abdou Hai, was on a United States list of suspected terrorists - and a passenger with the same surname was due to fly from Paris to Los Angeles on Air France flight 68 on Christmas Eve. The news came as the US said it believed terrorists had been planning an attack at Christmas bigger than the atrocities on 11 September, 2001. Reports...

<p>PARIS — France said yesterday that the United States had asked it to track down an Afghan suspect behind an aviation scare that has forced a spate of cancellations and delays to U.S.-bound flights.</p> <p>The search comes as European countries study U.S. demands that airlines carry armed air marshals on some U.S.-bound planes to guard against September 11-style attacks, with some companies vowing to cancel flights rather than comply.</p>

Authorities across Europe are searching for a passenger who failed to show up for an Air France flight on Christmas Eve, ABC News reported. The network said US law enforcement officials believe the male passenger has connections with al-Qaeda and underwent terrorist training in Afghanistan. The ongoing search for the man who was traveling with a French passport is one of the factors contributing to the continuing security jitters about transatlantic flights, said the report, citing unnamed officials. French officials fear the suspect may have a small bomb whose components might get past airport security, ABC News reported. The man...

<p>With huge New Year's Eve celebrations and college football bowl games only days away, the U.S. government last month dispatched scores of casually dressed nuclear scientists with sophisticated radiation detection equipment hidden in briefcases and golf bags to scour five major U.S. cities for radiological, or "dirty," bombs, according to officials involved in the emergency effort.</p>

LONDON (AP) -- British pilots won assurances from the government Tuesday that they will be told when armed sky marshals are on board their flights, but demanded to know where the guard is seated and to be able to maintain regular contact. Meanwhile, a British Airways flight from London to Washington, which was canceled twice last week over security fears, was delayed for the fourth consecutive day Tuesday because of U.S.-requested security checks. On Tuesday, British Air Line Pilots' Association said it would advise its members - nearly 90 percent of Britain's 9,200 commercial pilots - not to fly with...

<p>January 7, 2004 -- Police in England and Europe are seeking al Qaeda terrorists planning to bomb trans-Atlantic jets departing Paris and London, security sources said yesterday.</p> <p>Two al Qaeda terrorists with American passports and non-Arab physical appearances are believed to be planning assaults on trans-Atlantic flights from London, a U.S. official told The Post.</p>

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The presence of U.S. security agents at Mexican airports as part of a crackdown on U.S.-bound flights has upset politicians, churchmen and rights groups who say Washington is infringing on Mexico's sovereignty. Mexico's human rights ombudsman said Tuesday it has lodged an official complaint with several government ministries demanding to know the legal basis for the presence of U.S. security agents at Mexico City airport in recent days. Witnesses say U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents are supervising extensive security checks on passengers and hand-luggage that have caused delays. The watchdog demanded the government respect the law...

Some European governments and pilots' organizations are stamping their feet because the U.S. has decided that all airlines flying to, from or over this country must be prepared to staff their flights with armed air marshals. If they don't want to, that's fine. They can stay home. The same goes for foreigners who don't like being fingerprinted and photographed upon landing here. Some seem to feel that verifying a visitor's identity is akin to violating the Geneva Convention. Quoth one Brazilian judge: "I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst...

<p>Police in England and Europe are seeking Al Qaeda terrorists planning to bomb trans-Atlantic jets departing Paris and London, security sources said yesterday.</p> <p>Two Al Qaeda terrorists with American passports and non-Arab physical appearances are believed to be planning assaults on trans-Atlantic flights from London, a U.S. official told The Post.</p>

PORTLAND — The Casco Bay Bridge is still standing. That's despite a threat that something bad would happen at 12:59 p.m. The bridge over the Fore River between Portland and South Portland was shut down from 12:45 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. because of a threat overheard on a marine radio channel. Portland FBI Supervisor Jim Osterrieder said the Coast Guard overheard someone make a threat on the bridge over VHF Channel 16. That happened around 12:30 a.m. and the bridge was closed shortly thereafter. Officials searched the area and the bridge reopened around 6 a.m., in time for the morning...

Fear that "terrorists" might set off a dirty bomb prompted US authorities to raise the country's level of alert to "orange" or high, a US newspaper said. Based more on experts' belief that al-Qaeda might attempt to set off a dirty bomb during the end-of-year celebrations than real information, the Department of Energy sent scores of nuclear scientists with detection equipment to five major cities, The Washington Post reported. The scientists were disguised as normal citizens and their radiation detection equipment placed inside luggage, brief cases or golf bags, officials involved in the emergency effort told the daily. Beginning on...

Al Queada's Next Terror Target: The American Way of Life By: Richard Brzakala With the announcement of an increased security alert, it would apear that America's focus has been primarily on airlines and airport security in the hopes of staving off another 9/11 type attack. One would hope that ALL of the "intelligence chatter" and leads that are coming in to the Homeland Office from "reliable sources" are not part of a larger misinformation campaign hatched by Al Queada operatives and designed to serve as a red-herring.

Here's a hypothetical: What if all the recent terror chatter turned out to be idle? What if Al Qaeda's perceived threats to strike at America during the Code Orange Christmas season turned out to have been a grand diversion? New Year's Eve in Times Square went off without a hiccup. After all the hand-wringing over threats to international flights, no incidents. The roulette wheels still spin in Vegas. This isn't to suggest for a nanosecond that we should let down our guard. But think about this: Either intelligence agencies have done a masterly job of disrupting the terrorist plots or...

<p>More than two years since 9/11, news headlines still warn "Al Qaeda May Be Planning More Hijack Attacks."</p> <p>In less than two weeks, hijacking fears cancelled six Air France flights, four British Airways flights and two Aero Mexico flights. Intelligence reports indicated that at least one would-be hijacker was trained to fly a plane. U.S. fighter jets are accompanying some flights with orders to shoot them down if they're hijacked.</p>

Last Updated: Tuesday, 6 January, 2004, 11:35 GMT Protests widen over sky marshalsMore countries have joined the protests against American proposals to place armed guards on US-bound flights. Portugal is the latest nation to voice concern, as its civil aviation authority said that putting loaded guns aboard an aircraft could endanger it. In Britain, the pilots' union said that if the security risk to a flight is great enough to warrant an armed guard, the plane should not fly at all. Denmark and Sweden have also rejected demands for armed guards on aircraft. While the US has introduced new checks...

The Associated Press LONDON Jan. 6 — A pilots' union says it reluctantly accepts the use of armed sky marshals on British flights, but it wants assurances from the government about dealing with the "unknown risks" of the policy. Jim McAuslan, general secretary of the pilot's union BALPA, speaking Tuesday before a meeting with Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, said it was crucial that pilots remain in command of the plane at all times and know the identity of sky marshals and where they are sitting. "We still have a fundamental problem about having ballistics in a pressurized cabin," McAuslan told...

Portugal has joined Denmark and Sweden in rejecting US calls to post armed guards on international flights. The country's civil aviation authority said that putting loaded guns aboard an aircraft could endanger it. A better course would be to cancel any flight against which there was a credible terrorist threat, it argued. The decision means that plans to have armed guards, known as sky marshals, on board US-bound planes have now been rejected by three countries. While the US has introduced new checks at home, its efforts to tighten security on flights to the US as well have met with...

Report: Terror Suspect To Land At CVG Details Remain Sketchy UPDATED: 2:15 PM EST January 6, 2004 CINCINNATI -- There are reports that fighter jets are escorting a jet into the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. CONTACT INFORMATION Report suspicious activity to the FBI. Web Site FBI Tips Toll-Free Hot Line (866) 483-5137 HOMELAND SECURITY Our Homeland Security Page Preparedness Tips Five Levels Of Alert System Department Of Homeland Security Red Cross Family Crisis Plan FEMA: Are You Ready? Ready.gov The plane may have a terror suspect on board, WLWT Eyewitness News 5. The plane is a Delta flight. It left Paris...

Police Stopping All Cars Entering BWI Tuesday January 06, 2004 11:20am Linthicum, Md. (AP) - Maryland Transportation Authority police are stopping all cars entering Baltimore-Washington International Airport for security checks. Police officials say that the "100 percent security checks" began after 10 a.m. Police say the sweeps are not a response to a specific threat. Police aren't saying how long they will continue checking every car that enters the airport. Airport officials say that the sweeps are not expected to create major delays entering the airport. And they still recommend that passengers plan on arriving 90 minutes before their scheduled...

Sky marshals ready, KLM hesitant 6 January 2004 AMSTERDAM — The Dutch military police has reportedly had 10 officers secretly trained in Germany and Israel to serve as armed guards on planes to prevent hijackings, but airline KLM has raised doubts about the project. The intense and expensive anti-terrorism training course was conducted in the summer of 2003 at the request of the Justice Ministry with the intention to deploy the sky marshals in civilian clothes on KLM fights, newspaper De Volkskrant reported. But the Dutch flag carrier — which has urged the government on several occasions to deploy...

<p>January 6, 2004 -- The United States launched a new program that scans fingerprints and takes photographs of millions of foreign visitors at Kennedy and other airports yesterday, hoping the high-tech measures will help prevent terrorists from entering the country. The $368 million identity-check program - called US-VISIT, or U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology - started smoothly at Kennedy as foreign arrivals told The Post they found the process relatively hassle-free and a small price to pay in times of terrorist threats.</p>

<p>A country on "orange alert" is a no-win political situation for President Bush, who can't take credit for the absence of terrorist attacks and must watch Democrats running for president argue that all his efforts to thwart domestic carnage are doomed to fail.</p>

<p>January 6, 2004 -- MY flight was delayed for six hours last Wednesday, and I and several of my fellow passengers were glad: They're taking security seriously enough to inconvenience us.</p> <p>The need for this inconvenience was driven home to me recently in Sarasota, Fla., where I spoke with Mohammad Atta's doctor and the flight instructor of Ziyad Al-Jarrah, one of the hijackers of Flight 93.</p>

<p>LONDON (AP) — British Airways met with pilots yesterday to discuss their objections to the use of armed sky marshals on flights to the United States. As they met, a British Airways flight to Washington was delayed for the third straight day because of U.S.-requested security checks.</p>

THE panic gripping passenger flights on both sides of the Atlantic was sparked by the discovery of an al-Qaida plot to simultaneously hijack several aircraft and crash them into key US sites. Top of the list was the White House, but the terrorists also aimed to hit nuclear power stations on the US east coast, unspecified targets in Los Angeles and the giant Valdez oil terminal in Alaska. American and British intelligence operatives learned of the plot from a tip-off on the weekend before Christmas. The informant said Islamic fanatics planned to hijack flights operated by British Airways, Air France...

US to fingerprint millions of foreign visitors Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Tuesday January 6, 2004 The Guardian The well turned out woman in trench coat and silky scarf stomped off the plane from Tokyo and headed for home in the suburbs of Virginia. "It was too bad," said Mrs Suzuki, the discomfort of a 12-hour flight compounded by the indignities of the new security measures on arrival. "I felt like I was being treated like a criminal." Yesterday was the first day of rigorous security measures that will require most visitors to the US to be fingerprinted and photographed on...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- A speaker who was purportedly Osama bin Laden said on an audiotape that the U.S.-led war in Iraq was the beginning of the "occupation" of Gulf states for their oil and called on Muslims to keep fighting a holy war in the Middle East. The tape is likely authentic, U.S. officials said Monday. The voice on the audiotape, which was broadcast Sunday on the Al-Jazeera satellite channel, referred to recent events - including the Dec. 13 capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and peace initiatives between Israel and the Palestinians. The speaker urged Muslims to...

Police Detain Two Passengers on Dominican-Bound Flight After Suspicious Behavior The Associated Press SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic Jan. 5 — Two Canadian men were detained for suspected links to terrorism after acting strangely aboard a flight from France to the Dominican Republic, authorities said Monday. The two were detained after Air Europa Flight 89 landed in Santo Domingo Sunday night, said Gen. Fernando Cruz Mendez, director of national Investigations. They have not been charged and authorities did not find any weapons, Cruz said. "They acted very nervous on board," he said. "They went in and out of the bathrooms, including...

NEW YORK — Stocks rose sharply early Monday as investors returned in full force from the holidays and funneled money into the market on expectations of a strong earnings season on Wall Street. In early morning trading Monday, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (search) was up 89 points at 10,499 while the technology-packed Nasdaq Composite Index (search) was up 24 points at 2,030. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (search) was up 9 points at 1,118. Investors' hopes are high for a strong earnings season despite some worries that U.S. shares are on the verge of becoming overvalued....

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain warned Sunday that travelers face years of severe security alerts like one that forced several international flights to be grounded last week amid fears of a September 11-style terror attack. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said exceptional circumstances and specific information about a possible terror threat led British Airways to cancel two flights from Britain to Washington and one to the Saudi capital Riyadh last week. "For many years to come, we are going to be living in an age where there is going to be a heightened state of alert. Sometimes it will be quite severe,"...

LONDON (Reuters) - Armed police patrolled airport terminals and aviation authorities were on high alert Monday after several international flights were grounded last week amid fears of another September 11-style terror attack. Following the release of a purported audio tape from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- blamed for the 2001 suicide hijack attacks -- Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said security checks on aircraft and passengers were vital, but that terror alerts should not paralyze normal life. "We have to put safety first....but we have to ensure that the world goes on," Straw told BBC radio. "There is...

FBI Checked Las Vegas Hotel Lists in Terror Alert Email this story Jan 4, 3:30 PM (ET) By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI demanded Las Vegas hotels turn over their guest lists leading up to New Year's Eve to check against a U.S. master list of suspected terrorists, a law enforcement official said on Sunday. The demand for "patron information" went to all major hotels in the Nevada casino and entertainment city, said the official who declined to be named. Las Vegas was one of six or seven cities mentioned in intelligence reports as potential targets for a...

WASHINGTON - Last-minute security fears delayed another British airliner yesterday, and a top British official told air travelers to get used to it. "I fear that for many years to come we are going to be living in an age where there is going to be a heightened state of alert. ... We're going to have to get used to increased security at airports," British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling told BBC. A senior government official said the U.S. will remain on a "high" Code Orange alert "at least" until mid-January, though some counterterrorism agents breathed "a big sigh of relief"...

Las Vegas hotel operators and airlines serving McCarran International Airport are being required by the FBI to turn over all guest and passenger names and personal information, at least during the holiday period, several sources said Tuesday. FBI spokesman Todd Palmer confirmed the federal action and said the requirement that the companies surrender customer information is a "normal investigative procedure." However, Allen Lichtenstein, general counsel for the Nevada Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the program "clearly is not part of a normal investigation. "What we seem to be witnessing at this point is a move on the...

<p>LONDON — A British Airways (search) flight from London to Washington, canceled twice this week because of security fears, was delayed again on Sunday for security checks requested by the United States. The British transport secretary warned that security alerts could be a feature of international airline travel for years to come.</p>

<p>Jan. 12 issue - All night, long after the televised cheers and hugs celebrating the arrival of a fresh new year, national-security officials manning the White House Situation Room waited for the worst. Only 10 days earlier, the Department of Homeland Security had upped the nation's threat warning to Code Orange, the second highest level. And officials tasked with protecting American security were at high-alert status. Intelligence sources had intercepted "incredibly good" information about possible targets in major U.S. cities. Among other worries, they feared terrorists would hijack airliners and try a repeat of the 9/11 attacks. As the hours ticked past, the White House kept a constant video feed to the FBI, CIA and Pentagon.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) - Authorities were concerned with terrorism threats in the air and on the ground Saturday. The British government delayed a London-to-Washington flight for three hours and U.S. officials monitored heavily secured stadiums hosting the first round of football playoffs. British Airways (BAB) 223, the most scrutinized flight since the United States declared a high terrorism alert Dec. 21, lifted off from Heathrow Airport just after 1 p.m. EST after intensive security checks. The plane had the all-clear earlier from Britain's Transport Department. The subsequent checks added to the misery of passengers on a flight also detained in Washington...

Hunt for UK terror cell Hijack gang 'have British passports' Peter Beaumont and Antony Barnett Sunday January 4, 2004 The Observer Intelligence officials hunting Islamist terrorists suspected of planning attacks on British Airways flights believe they may be carrying legitimate American, UK or other European passports to try to beat airport security. According to US sources, last week's cancellation of the BA flights to Washington and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia was triggered by fear that terrorists with legitimate 'clean aliases' were planning attacks over the New Year holiday. The alert comes amid compelling new evidence of determined efforts by jihadist...

More flights from British airports are expected to be cancelled this week as MI5 and Special Branch hunt two al-Qa'eda terrorists thought to be planning a shoe-bomb attack on an airliner. It was this threat that led to last week's cancellation, two days running, of British Airways flight 223 from Heathrow to Washington. Officials from the security service MI5 believe that two Islamist terrorists are at large in Britain and planning to detonate a bomb in a lavatory of an aircraft. Flight 223 was finally due to take off last night, but government officials on both sides of the Atlantic...

<p>A BA flight to Washington was cancelled at the last minute yesterday after an intelligence tip-off that a woman suicide bomber planned to blow up the plane over the US capital.</p> <p>It was the third day running that a major security scare had hit the afternoon Flight 223 service from Heathrow to Washington.</p>

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com The U.S. Coast Guard, responding to elevated threats of terror from the sea – threats first reported in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin – has closed one of the world's largest oil tanker terminals on Alaska's south shore. Tanker loading at Valdez, the southern terminus of the trans-Alaska pipeline, was shut off Tuesday night. The facility remains closed indefinitely. The 800-mile pipeline carries 17 percent of the nation's oil supply from the Prudoe Bay oil fields off Alaska's northern slope. Security in the sound area was tightened last week after U.S. officials said the terminals could be a target of...