NYC Terror Alert Calls For Attack On Sunday, 10/9/2005

Bulletin: Beware of bloody Sunday

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/v-p...p-301550c.html

By JAMES GORDON MEEK, ALISON GENDAR and CORKY SIEMASZKO
Friday, October 7th, 2005

A frightening federal bulletin warned that "a team of terrorist operatives" - possibly already in New York - was planning to bomb the subways tomorrow, the Daily News has learned.

The bulletin, obtained yesterday by The News, said the strike would be carried out by terrorists using "remote-controlled" bombs hidden in briefcases, suitcases or strollers.

"A team of terrorist operatives, some of whom may travel to or who may be in the New York City area, may attempt to execute an attack on the New York City subway on or about Oct. 9, 2005," the joint FBI-Homeland Security bulletin stated.

The memo - distributed yesterday, the same day Mayor Bloomberg went public with the threat - contained four pages of advice on protecting the subway, but also stated that Homeland Security and FBI officials "have doubts on the credibility of the threat."

Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had known about the threat for several days and already had begun ramping up security.

The mayor defended his decision to publicize the threat, saying the specificity of the threat and the fact that the plot was linked to Al Qaeda were reason enough to act.

"If I'm going to make a mistake, you can rest assured it is on the side of being cautious," Bloomberg said yesterday.

A senior FBI official in Washington told The News the agency learned about the purported plot last month - and weren't especially alarmed.

The suspects "do not have the capability or ability to carry out such an attack and are not in a position or place to do it, or have the international connections to do it," the official said.

But President Bush said he did not think New York overreacted. "I think they took the information we gave and made the judgments they thought were necessary," he said.

The presidential vote of confidence came as a third alleged plotter was captured in Iraq and authorities hunted for a fourth person, who may already be in the United States, sources said.

Commuters headed to work under the watchful eyes of thousands of extra cops who pulled random riders aside and rifled through their bags.

Parts of Penn Station were briefly shut down during the morning rush hour when a rider found a soda oozing a green Drano-like liquid.

Kelly said the soda-can incident "looks like a prank" and was just one of about more than 80 reports of suspicious packages across the city.

The terrorism jitters were also felt in the nation's capital after the Washington Monument was evacuated because of a telephone bomb threat. Nothing dangerous was found and the monument was reopened.

The tip about the subway-bombing plot came from an Iraqi pharmacist who had spent time in Afghanistan - and who had provided reliable information about Al Qaeda activities in the past, sources said.

Before U.S. forces began rounding up the suspects, the pharmacist passed two lie-detector tests where he was questioned about the subway plot.

The plotters - all of whom learned how to make bombs in Afghanistan - were to travel to New York via Syria, sources said. Once in the city, they would meet up with as many as a dozen other fanatics and launch coordinated attacks.

Thousands of cops will continue to patrol the subways at least through the weekend and safeguard other potential targets including Yankee Stadium.