U.S. Warns of al-Qaida Attacks Abroad
Posted on: Thursday, 11 September 2003, 06:00 CDT
The State Department has issued a worldwide warning of possible al-Qaida attacks against U.S. interests, citing the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. "We are seeing increasing indications that al-Qaida is preparing to strike U.S. interests abroad," the State Department said in a statement Wednesday.
Meantime, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Thursday that there's no need to raise the nation's terror alert level, despite a new, threat-filled videotape of Osama bin Laden marking the Sept. 11 anniversary.
America's color-coded alert system remains at "yellow" - the midpoint on the five-step alert system. Ridge said that reflects "a high level of risk" and that the bin Laden tape didn't change things.
"We know that America is their primary target," Ridge told CBS' "The Early Show" on Thursday. "And they know that every single day we're doing everything we can to not only prevent their attacks but reduce our own vulnerability in this country to their carnage and their death and their destruction and their hate."
Last year, the threat level was raised to the second-highest level - orange - for the first anniversary of Sept. 11.
Last week, as the second anniversary approached, the federal government reminded state and local governments and business leaders of steps that should be taken under the current alert level, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Thursday.
The advisory was meant to ensure those officials were "going back and making sure they're on top of those matters," he said.
In past months, al-Qaida and connected organizations have carried out bombings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Casablanca, Morocco, and Bali, Indonesia, the State Department said.
"We therefore assess that European or Eurasian locations could be venues for the next round of attacks, possibly to closely coincide with the" Sept. 11 anniversary, the State Department said.
The latest caution updates a July 29 warning about possible hijackings of commercial aircraft by terrorists.
The national terrorist threat level remains at yellow, signifying an elevated risk of attacks. The five-level, color-coded system was last raised to orange, or high risk, for 11 days in May.
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