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NY hikes security after report
11/08/2007 09:35 - (SA)
New York - New York police stepped up
security throughout Manhattan and at bridges and tunnels on
Friday in response to an internet report - which authorities
said they could not verify - that al Qaeda might be plotting
to detonate a dirty bomb in the city.
New York City police said in a statement the threat against
the city was an "unverified radiological threat," stressed the
increased security was precautionary and said the city's alert
status for an attack was unchanged at "orange."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg stressed there was no
reason to believe this threat was any different from countless
others since the September 11 attacks.
One law enforcement source told Reuters that authorities
were responding to internet chatter reported on Israeli website www.debka.com, but that the information reported there
could not be verified.
Radio-active material
That site reported that there has been a rush of electronic
chatter on al Qaeda sites, one saying there would be an attack
"by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against
America's biggest city and financial nerve centre."
Another al Qaeda message mentioned New York, Los Angeles
and Miami as targets, the Jerusalem-based DEBKAfile internet
news site reported.
The New York Police Department said in a statement it had
increased the deployment of radiological sensors on vehicles,
boats and helicopters, and had set up vehicle checkpoints in
lower Manhattan's financial district and at bridges and
tunnels.
Police confirmed the increased security was in response to
receiving information that a dirty bomb may go off on Friday
evening around 34th street in Manhattan - a neighbourhood with
the Empire State Building, New York City's tallest building,
Madison Square Garden and Macy's department store.
'No credible information'
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security in
Washington said the threat to New York was "unsubstantiated"
and there was "no credible information telling us there is an
imminent threat to the homeland at this time."
New York has remained on an orange alert - the second
highest such level, below red - since the September 11 2001,
attacks that destroyed the World Trade Centre.
New York police played down the increased security.
"It is stressed that these deployments are strictly
precautionary and not the result of any verified threat," NYPD
Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement.
Bloomberg also sought to soothe New Yorkers.
"Earlier this evening, the NYPD began taking several public
precautionary measures visible to New Yorkers to guard against
an unverified threat that was found on the internet," he said.
No visible sign
"These actions are like those that the NYPD takes every day
- precautions against potential but unconfirmed threats that
may never materialise," Bloomberg said.
At Herald Square, the heart of the 34th Street area, late
on Friday evening, there was no visible sign of increased
police security as New Yorkers went about their regular
activities.
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