Friday, Dec. 26, 2003 | 11:34 a.m.
Local officials continued to report that there are no specific terrorist threats against Las Vegas as speculation grew across the nation about possible targets of terrorist strikes during a high, Code Orange alert.
The Washington Post today, relying on unnamed government sources, reported that three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles may have been part of a hijacking plot intended to crash-land planes in Las Vegas or other cities along the flight path.
The Los Angeles Times, however, reported Thursday that Los Angeles was the target of the Air France flights, which were expected to resume today after investigators found no evidence of a Christmas Day terror plot to use an aircraft to attack American targets.
"There is no specific information to corroborate the information in the Washington Post story," said Special Agent Todd Palmer, spokesman for the Las Vegas office of the FBI. "There are no specific threats against Las Vegas."
Nevada Homeland Security Director Jerry Bussell used stronger words to describe the reports from unnamed sources appearing in papers throughout the country.
"This is folly," said Bussell, who added that he also has no information about a threat to Las Vegas. "Somebody is out there drawing lines together with false assumptions.
"If there was a threat and it was held back and not released to the public, it would be the highest level of incompetence. If the people of the nation, Nevada or Las Vegas were in harm's way, it would be stupidity not to say so."
Fears were heightened Wednesday and Thursday, when France's national carrier canceled six flights after U.S. officials told French authorities that members of the al-Qaida terrorist network might try to board an Air France flight between Paris and Los Angeles.
No arrests have been made in France, where counterintelligence agents released seven men after a brief questioning late Wednesday at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris.
Las Vegas is one of 30 cities that have enhanced their ability to monitor the air for biological warfare agents. After the national threat alert was raised to orange on Sunday, officials took several dozen additional monitors and installed them in the same cities that had previously had them installed, according to the Associated Press.
Bussell said that the sensors, which pick up any harmful biological agents and provide test results in 12 to 24 hours, are Environmental Protection Agency issued. The locations were not identified for security reasons.
The alert also has activated special disaster response teams, while federal officials have been conferring with foreign governments to prevent terrorists from boarding international flights bound for the United States.
The emergency response units that have been activated are divided up by areas of expertise.
Separate teams would:
-- Provide expert advice and support to the on-scene commander if there was a threat or an incident involving weapons of mass destruction.
-- Respond to any release of radiation with advice and air monitoring equipment.
-- Provide medical personnel to assist state and local medical authorities.
"People have their antennas up," said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department.
President Bush kept abreast of terrorism threats from the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland as he celebrated Christmas Day with his family.
Reports in the Los Angeles Times and on CNN have mentioned Las Vegas among several possible targets over the holidays along with New York and other cities and events.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge has mentioned Las Vegas and other cities as having large holiday celebrations. Ridge's mention of Las Vegas came on a television news program Monday, a day after officials warned that al-Qaida terrorists might be plotting attacks against the United States during the holidays.
"There are public gatherings in major urban areas around the country, big celebrations, Times Square, Las Vegas, L.A., football games, you name it," Ridge said on the program.
The FBI's local emergency operations center is staffed and will be operational 24 hours a day until the orange alert is lifted. Law enforcement sources said that additional FBI agents have been assigned to Las Vegas.
Palmer would not confirm or deny any shuffling of agents, but said it wasn't unusual for additional agents to be sent to local offices in the course of any investigation.
Security was also tightened at Hoover Dam, where vehicle checks were stepped up on the Nevada and Arizona sides of the dam, said Bob Walsh, spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation.
Boat patrols also resumed upstream and downstream of the dam on the Colorado River, Walsh said.
Tractor-trailers, full-sized buses and large recreational vehicles continue to be banned from crossing the dam.
At Nellis Air Force Base the security level has been raised from Alpha to Bravo. Nellis has four security levels, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta, with Delta being the highest. At McCarran International Airport additional searches of vehicles and security patrols have begun, and as many as 15 additional Metro Police officers have been assigned to the airport.
"Most of what takes place is invisible to travelers," airport spokeswoman Hilarie Grey said. "We're not seeing any visible delays at the checkpoints."
People flying out of McCarran are advised to allow extra time for possible vehicle searches or being redirected to a remote parking lot, Grey said.
Terrorism has been linked to Las Vegas in the past, with five of the hijackers involved in the Sept. 11 attacks visiting Las Vegas during the summer of 2001. Also, alleged members of a terrorist sleeper cell who were arrested in Detroit reportedly had videotape of the MGM Grand and Disneyland.
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