Banks to operate despite threat of attack

GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

Originally published Monday, April 22, 2002

WASHINGTON -- Banks from Maine to Virginia are expected to open today despite the vague threat of a possible terrorist attack.

A new alert, which the FBI issued Friday afternoon, will probably remain in effect through today and perhaps indefinitely as authorities continue to evaluate information provided in part by captured al-Qaida leader Abu Zubaydah.

Despite the threat, the nation remains at the same middle level of alert -- yellow -- established by the color-coded system unveiled last month. Yellow means there is a "significant" risk of terrorist attack.

Banks have not been told to close, and customers have not been told to stay away.

Nevertheless, Attorney General John Ashcroft has urged about 7,500 financial institutions and their customers to remain vigilant during the threat period and "be aware of anything that appears suspicious."

The alert affects Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Ashcroft also postponed meetings this week with justice ministers in Russia, Hungary and Switzerland so he could remain in Washington, D.C.

Officials said he plans to monitor developments related to the bank threat and protests in Washington against meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Those protests end today.

No details about the timing or method of any attack accompanied the initial FBI alert to the public. FBI spokesman Bill Carter said the alert is expected to remain in place "until the threat information can be fully evaluated.

We are unaware about a threat to any specific bank." Authorities say they believe that the threat is more likely to involve a possible strike against a building.

As law enforcement and intelligence officials continued to evaluate that threat, the focus remained on Zubaydah, who was captured last month April 1 in Pakistan.

Zubaydah, 31, a top lieutenant to Osama bin Laden, is believed to have helped build the worldwide network and organized the training of individual recruits. The banking threat was the first public acknowledgement by authorities that Zubaydah might be cooperating with the government.

By issuing the alert, the government attached a measure of unusual importance to the Palestinian as a potential witness. but there are still questions about his credibility.

"We have to take everything he says with a large grain of salt," one senior official in the Justice Department said Sunday.

"You always have to ask the same questions: Is this cooperation? Or is this misdirection? Is he saying all this to suit his purpose? It's hard to say right now," the official said.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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