Washington warns of weapons and bombs hidden in electronics
Washington warns of weapons and bombs hidden in electronics
Christina Ling, Reuters, Washington
U.S. officials on Tuesday warned airports to step up scrutiny of passengers' electronic items amid renewed militant threats, but said there were no plans to raise the national threat level.
Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge also said it did not appear that a deadly explosion on Tuesday in the Indonesian capital that killed 14 people was linked to threats against the United States broadcast by top al-Qaeda figure Ayman al-Zawahri over the weekend.
"There is no indication that the attack in Jakarta was in any way related to al-Zawahri's statement," Ridge told a news conference.
The tape warned on Sunday that the United States would pay "a dear price" for harm inflicted on Muslim detainees at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and that the "real battle" had not yet begun.
The advisory about possible new ways to conceal explosives in electronic devices was the latest of several measures taken to tighten security at U.S. airports in the wake of last week's warning that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network was planning new suicide hijackings and bombings in the United States or abroad.
Ridge said the advisory was based on "very specific" information obtained during a raid on an al-Qaeda residence in an unspecified location.
Citing similar information, officials on Saturday suspended programs that allow some foreigners to enter the United States without a visa,
But Ridge said The United States was still not notching up the color-coded, five-tier threat level, currently at the middle- ranked yellow for "elevated."
"We are not presently considering raising the national threat warning system," he said.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that al-Qaeda operatives had "shown a special interest" in converting a camera flash attachment into a stun gun type of weapon or a bomb. Operatives have also experimented with disguising a detonator and explosives inside a camera.
Other items that could be modified into weapons included remote door or lock openers, cellular telephones, multi-band radios and dual speaker radios and computers.
"Analysis of various bomb-making components and camera flash attachments acquired during a raid on an al-Qaeda residence indicates the group is attempting to fabricate devises using photographic materials," the advisory said.
The disclosure coincided with the car bomb explosion near the lobby of Jakarta's JW Marriott Hotel in an attack reminiscent of the bombing of a Bali nightclub area last October that killed 202 people.
Separately, pilots at American Airlines, the world's largest airline, appealed to the government on Tuesday to expand a new program that allows commercial aviators to carry guns in the cockpit.
"In light of the recent news reports that terrorists are plotting new attacks against commercial aviation, it is imperative that we accelerate the (program)," said John Darrah, president of the Allied Pilots Association.