US raises terror alert in key financial centres

WASHINGTON – The United States at the weekend raised the terrorist alert level for key financial centers, warning that al Qaeda may attack the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in Washington and the New York Stock Exchange.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said there were reports that Osama bin Laden’s group planned to use truck or car bombs against the targets. Ridge’s department stepped up precautions in the financial services districts of New York, Washington and the northern part of New Jersey state close to New York, where many finance companies have bases.Ridge said the terror threat level was being raised to “high” from “elevated” in each location.”The quality of this intelligence based on multiple reporting streams in multiple locations, is rarely seen, and it is alarming in both the amount and specificity of the information,” Ridge stressed at a press conference.The anti-terror chief has already warned that terrorists could stage attacks to disrupt the US presidential election on November 2.President George W. Bush’s Republican Party is to hold its convention in New York from August 30-September 2.Ridge said intelligence reports also indicated specific threats to Citigroup buildings in New York and Prudential Financial buildings in northern New Jersey.Al Qaeda carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that left about 3 000 dead.After those attacks, the New York finance industry shut down for six days.”Al Qaeda wants to intimidate us,” Ridge said, before adding: “Our resolve is indivisible and unyielding.”He said security chiefs had talked to officials at each of the institutions involved, warning them of heightened risks and urging them to remain vigilant.Ridge said he had also had a conference call with 200 officials just before making the announcement.New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said security was being beefed up, but insisted that Wall Street employees and staff of the Citigroup buildings should feel safe going to work on Monday.In Washington, police chief Charles Ramsey promised increased patrols around the IMF and World Bank buildings as well as other institutions.Police warned building managers and corporate security personnel to watch for vehicles that could be rigged with explosives and for chemical agents placed in ventilation systems.The World Bank and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) were open for business as usual Monday.Stock Exchange chief executive officer John Thain announced that Bloomberg will ring the opening bell on Monday “as a symbol of his ongoing support” but made clear security measures will be stepped up.”The NYSE security staff will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, and homeland security officials on a 24 hour per day, 7 day a week basis to ensure we maintain the highest levels of security,” Thain said.In Newark, New Jersey, police set up metal fences around the headquarters of Prudential Financial, blocked off two streets and armed themselves with assault rifles.Meanwhile, the Democratic presidential campaign called the increased alert level “a very serious development” that underscores the need to move aggressively to implement recommendations made by a national commission that investigated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.”Nearly three years after 9/11, the breadth and extent of the commission’s recommendations make clear that there is significantly more that can be done to keep America safe,” said Susan Rice, senior advisor to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for national security affairs.The alerts follow the arrest of a Pakistani-origin woman in Texas last week after she illegally crossed the Mexican border with a false passport, US$7 000 (N$42 000) in cash and a plane ticket for New York, media reports said.Four pages of a South African passport in her possession had been torn out.A federal law enforcement official told The New York Times the woman, Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed, 48, might have been a courier sent to deliver a message or documents to someone in the United States.But Ridge said that based on what he knew “there’s no connection between that individual who was apprehended at the border to the information and the targeting that I’ve discussed with you.”-Nampa-AFPRidge’s department stepped up precautions in the financial services districts of New York, Washington and the northern part of New Jersey state close to New York, where many finance companies have bases.Ridge said the terror threat level was being raised to “high” from “elevated” in each location.”The quality of this intelligence based on multiple reporting streams in multiple locations, is rarely seen, and it is alarming in both the amount and specificity of the information,” Ridge stressed at a press conference.The anti-terror chief has already warned that terrorists could stage attacks to disrupt the US presidential election on November 2.President George W. Bush’s Republican Party is to hold its convention in New York from August 30-September 2.Ridge said intelligence reports also indicated specific threats to Citigroup buildings in New York and Prudential Financial buildings in northern New Jersey.Al Qaeda carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington that left about 3 000 dead.After those attacks, the New York finance industry shut down for six days.”Al Qaeda wants to intimidate us,” Ridge said, before adding: “Our resolve is indivisible and unyielding.”He said security chiefs had talked to officials at each of the institutions involved, warning them of heightened risks and urging them to remain vigilant.Ridge said he had also had a conference call with 200 officials just before making the announcement.New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said security was being beefed up, but insisted that Wall Street employees and staff of the Citigroup buildings should feel safe going to work on Monday.In Washington, police chief Charles Ramsey promised increased patrols around the IMF and World Bank buildings as well as other institutions.Police warned building managers and corporate security personnel to watch for vehicles that could be rigged with explosives and for chemical agents placed in ventilation systems.The World Bank and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) were open for business as usual Monday.Stock Exchange chief executive officer John Thain announced that Bloomberg will ring the opening bell on Monday “as a symbol of his ongoing support” but made clear security measures will be stepped up.”The NYSE security staff will continue to work with our law enforcement partners, and homeland security officials on a 24 hour per day, 7 day a week basis to ensure we maintain the highest levels of security,” Thain said.In Newark, New Jersey, police set up metal fences around the headquarters of Prudential Financial, blocked off two streets and armed themselves with assault rifles.Meanwhile, the Democratic presidential campaign called the increased alert level “a very serious development” that underscores the need to move aggressively to implement recommendations made by a national commission that investigated the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.”Nearly three years after 9/11, the breadth and extent of the commission’s recommendations make clear that there is significantly more that can be done to keep America safe,” said Susan Rice, senior advisor to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry for national security affairs.The alerts follow the arrest of a Pakistani-origin woman in Texas last week after she illegally crossed the Mexican border with a false passport, US$7 000 (N$42 000) in cash and a plane ticket for New York, media reports said.Four pages of a South African passport in her possession had been torn out.A federal law enforcement official told The New York Times the woman, Farida Goolam Mohamed Ahmed, 48, might have been a courier sent to deliver a message or documents to someone in the United States.But Ridge said that based on what he knew “there’s no connection between that individual who was apprehended at the border to the information and the targeting that I’ve discussed with you.”-Nampa-AFP