| A U.S. military helicopter passes by the Statue of Liberty while patrolling near Ground Zero in New York on Monday. |
| Terrorist risk level raised to high |
| Action taken after U.S. learns of threats against embassies |
| BREAKING NEWS |
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
| Sept. 10 Citing newly uncovered threats against U.S. targets abroad, the Bush administration on Tuesday planned for the first time to elevate its color-coded terrorist threat-assessment system to designate the anniversary of attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon as a time of high risk of terrorist attack, NBC News has learned. One official said that the move was being taken out of an abundance of caution. | |||
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Under the higher threat designation, authorities are instructed to take additional precautions at public events, to prepare to work at alternate sites or with a dispersed workforce and to consider restricting access to workplace to essential personnel only.
Homeland Security director Tom Ridge was due to announce the change in the threat assessment at a news conference at 1 p.m. ET, the officials said.
Earlier, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said at a White House briefing that Our concerns are increasing, citing undisclosed intelligence as well as general apprehension about the the anniversary of Sept. 11s terrorist attacks.
His remarks came as authorities ratcheted up security at public gathering spots around the nation and potential targets around the globe. Even more extraordinary measures were being contemplated: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was expected to approve the positioning within hours of surface-to-air missiles around the nations capital, Pentagon officials told NBC News.
Both the FBI and the White House say they have no specific information that terrorists intend to mark the day with renewed violence, but Fleischer made it clear that the Bush administration is not viewing the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon as just another day.
Fleischer said that the sense of growing concern among U.S. officials was based on information, but did not provide any specifics on the nature of the intelligence or say when or how it was obtained. He also indicated that the concern also was based in part on the general threat posed by the anniversary.
MORE CAUTIONARY TONE
The tone of Fleischers comments at a briefing for White House reporters was more cautionary than on Monday. During that briefing, he responded to reports that U.S. counterterrorism officials have seen a mild increase in the chatter electronic communications among suspected terrorists and their supporters in the run-up to Wednesdays anniversary by saying that intelligence experts dont believe it is significant or a sign of a major impending attack.
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Other warnings Tuesday from U.S. officials were more blunt.
Four U.S. embassies announced they would close for the anniversary two in response to what they described as specific, credible threats of terrorist attack. The U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, Ralph Boyce, attributed the closure of the embassy in Jakarta to a threat from al-Qaida, the terrorist network that U.S. officials say carried out last years attacks.
U.S. closes embassies after threat
The U.S. Navy also issued an unprecedented warning Tuesday that al-Qaida might be planning attacks on oil tankers in the Middle East Gulf, citing unconfirmed reports circulating within the regional shipping community.
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The State Department issued a worldwide caution Monday night urging Americans to remain especially vigilant this week.
FBI ISSUES ALERT
The FBI warned police, utilities, banks and the transportation industry to be wary.
A large volume of threats of undetermined reliability continues to be received and investigated by the FBI, the bulletin said. Several of these threats make reference to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and to New York City and Washington, D.C.
Military jets were patrolling the skies over New York and Washington around the clock and Defense Department strategists recommended to Rumsfeld that he order deployment of 300 troops with Avenger ground-based air defense batteries and shoulder-fired stinger anti-aircraft missile systems for several days to protect several key sites in the capital from air attack, according to the Pentagon officials, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity. Advertisement
Rumsfeld was expected to formalize the decision on Tuesday, they said.
Bush will mark Wednesdays anniversary of the attacks with a speech to the nation, followed by an address Thursday to the U.N. General Assembly.
Sources told NBC News that the president and Vice President Dick Cheney would remain apart for the next few days, with Cheney spending part of the period at an undisclosed secure location.
Evidence of how seriously the government and private security forces are taking the anniversary has been accumulating in recent days:
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The alert was issued Wednesday after U.S. intelligence officials obtained a copy of the videotape, the Washington Times reported, quoting sources that it did not name.
The paper said that a man it described as being of Middle Eastern origin videotaped the buildings and also paced off several distances around the monument.
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Officials have said the tapes may be surveillance of potential targets for a terrorist attack, though they know of no specific threats against the subjects of the videotapes found so far.
Prosecutors alleged Monday that explosives residue had been detected on the luggage of an Islamic religious leader arrested Sunday at the Portland, Ore., airport as he was preparing to board a flight. Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, 40, was charged with falsely obtaining official documents, but a Justice Department source told NBC News he was under investigation for possible terrorist connections.
A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
The signs of nervousness are not confined to the United States.
British police advised major companies in London, Europes biggest financial center, to tighten security ahead of the anniversary in case of copycat attacks.
Britain is considered a potential target because of the governments support of Washingtons war on terror and because British cities are seen by some as havens for radical Islam.
Officials in other European countries either declined to discuss preparations or said that no additional security was planned.
In Afghanistan, the Turkish-led International Security Assistance Force said it had increased security measures after Thursdays bid to kill President Hamid Karzai in Kandahar and a car bomb that killed 16 people in the Afghan capital the same day.
Officials in neighboring Pakistan said Gen. Pervez Musharrafs pro-Western government had beefed up security at what it had identified as potential targets.