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U.S. Issues New Alert for Holiday Weekend
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U.S. soldiers on Brooklyn Bridge
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WASHINGTON
D.C., May 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Despite new
“terrorist attack alerts” being issued by the U.S. Federal
government, Americans will travel in greater numbers than last year
for the Memorial Day weekend.
The
U.S. Department of Transportation issued a heightened alert Friday
that it has received uncorroborated information that U.S. rails and
tunnels may be targeted for attack over the three-day holiday weekend.
While
many Americans deem the new alert the latest of many, essentially
going about their day unaffected, government officials insist that
there is a substantial increase in “chatter” regarding a possible
attack.
Analysts
indicate that the eastern seaboard, namely Washington D.C. and New
York may once again be the latest targets, however, none have stated
that there is information to suggest certain attack.
The
Holland Tunnel into Manhattan remained jam packed today as commuters
traveled into and out of the city. Specific warnings have been issued
regarding New York landmarks including the Statue of Liberty and the
Brooklyn Bridge.
According
to the New York Times, information gleaned from detained al-Qa’eda
leader Abu Zubaydah led the FBI to issue a terror warning for New York
city landmarks to city officials.
Citing
an unnamed senior law enforcement official, the Times reported that
the threat against the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge was
revealed last weekend during a debriefing of Zubaydah outside the
United States, after he was captured in Pakistan in March and held by
the United States at an undisclosed location.
The
threat was treated as potentially credible because past statements by
Zubaydah, allegedly the third-ranking leader in Osama bin Laden's
organization, have been corroborated by military authorities, the
paper reported.
Zubayda
has been the source of other recent U.S. terror warnings, including an
FBI alert regarding possible strikes on U.S. malls and supermarkets.
A
spokesman for New York's FBI office, Joseph Valiquette, would not
confirm the newspaper report, saying "the source of the
information would be classified," Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
He
did, however, note that the FBI had not intended to release the
information to the public.
"We
had no plans to put it out, but we are also not unhappy that the New
York Police Department put it out," he told AFP.
According
to the Times, NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly ordered beefed up
security measures at city bridges, tunnels and waterways late Monday,
after receiving word of the threat.
Tuesday,
Kelly announced he had received information from the FBI about
"general threats" in New York and that the NYPD would take
"all necessary precautions" and communicate with
"appropriate law enforcement agencies" to address the
threat.
Kelly had expected the FBI to announce the threat publicly on Tuesday,
the Times said, but when no such announcement was forthcoming, he made
his statement as increased security measures would be apparent to New
York residents and require some explanation.
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