Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Washington raises national terror alert

Andrew Buncombe
Saturday 08 February 2003 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Bush administration yesterday raised the national terror status from yellow to orange – claiming that a "confluence of intelligence" suggested al-Qa'ida was poised to launch new attacks on US targets within days. The level of alert is the second highest available.

While officials admitted that no individual targets had been identified, they said information received was specific, credible and came from "multiple sources". They said they believed any attack could be timed to coincide with the conclusion of the haj – the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca – in the middle of the month. There is also concern about terrorists trying to take advantage of America's preparation for a military operation against Iraq.

"This is based on specific intelligence received and analysed by the full intelligence community," said the Attorney General, John Ashcroft, as he announced the elevation. "Since September 11, intelligence has indicated that al-Qa'ida is still determined to attack innocent Americans." White House sources said the decision to raise the threat level was made by President Bush after he received a series of briefings from his security and intelligence advisers that the "chatter" they were receiving had not been so high since 11 September.

There has been a debate within the administration over the past few days on whether or not to raise the threat level. Officials have grown concerned about the likelihood of terrorist attacks within the US. On Thursday the State Department issued a worldwide caution to Americans about a greater risk of terrorism, including "suicide operations, assassinations or kidnappings".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in