US terror alert at highest since 9/11

The latest terrorism alert issued by the US administration represents “the most significant” such warning since the September 11 attacks, US Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said today.

“One of the reasons that we raised it is that because we believe the threat has substantially increased in the last couple of weeks,” Ridge said.

Citing intelligence that it said suggested a growing threat from Osama bin Laden has increased the level of alert from yellow to orange, the second-highest on the five-step alert scale adopted after the September 11 attacks. A red alert – the highest level – has never been issued.

“In discussing this matter with people that have been around the White House longer than I have, it is universally agreed that this is the most significant set of warnings that we’ve had since before September 11,” Ridge said.

Asked what citizens are expected to do in response to such warnings, Ridge said, “Just being more ready, being more prepared, is a deterrent in and of itself.”

Asked about critics’ accusations that the alert might have been tied to President George Bush’s warning to Saddam Hussein that time is running out on Baghdad avoiding war, Ridge said, “Well, I regret that interpretation.”

He said the warning was based on “the accumulation of credible corroborated sources, none of which are connected to the possibility of military involvement with Iraq.”