Arrest heightens Y2K bomb fears

Updated 1:25 PM ET December 20, 1999

By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The arrest of an Algerian man accused of trying to sneak bomb-building materials into the United States has heightened fears that guerrillas may be plotting to usher in the new year with violence, officials say.

The head of the U.S. Customs Service, which polices U.S. borders, said Monday he had redeployed more inspectors "to put additional resources at our more remote border crossings and (at) some of our larger border crossing as well."

Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly, on the ABC program "Good Morning America," also said he had ordered agents to work overtime in response to fears that New Year's celebrations may be targeted by anti-U.S. guerrillas.

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been working "full tilt" to foil any guerrilla plots since the arrest of Ahmed Ressam, a 32-year-old Montreal resident, National Security Advisor Samuel Berger said Sunday.

Officials stopped Ressam Tuesday as he arrived in Port Angeles, Washington, by ferry from British Columbia, Canada. While under questioning by a border guard, he allegedly bolted from a rental car and fled, only to be caught six blocks away.

A search of the car's trunk yielded enough nitroglycerin and other alleged bomb-building ingredients to build a powerful bomb, court papers said.

Lawrence Summers, secretary of the Treasury Department, which has responsibility for customs, paid tribute Monday to the four Customs agents involved in apprehending Ressam. A hunt is under way for a suspected accomplice.

A complaint filed Friday against Ressam said he had reserved a downtown Seattle motel room not far from the Space Needle, the landmark that is to be a focus of local New Year's festivities. He had booked for one night only, and was carrying airplane tickets that would have taken him the next day to London via Chicago and New York, according to the complaint.

"Our law enforcement people are trying to determine what his plans were, what his motives were, whether there were others involved, what kind of affiliations he might have," Berger said in a television interview.

He said that while Year 2000 celebrations marked a "period of heightened risk of terrorist actions involving Americans," Washington was "not aware at this point of other specific threats against particular targets in the United States."

"Americans should be vigilant as they go about their plans for the New Year," Berger said. "If they see something suspicious, see packages, or activities that they think are unusual, obviously let law enforcement people know."

The State Department said on Dec. 11 it had "credible information" that guerrillas were planning attacks on U.S. citizens -- including New Year's festivities.

"The information indicates that attacks could be planned for locations throughout the world where large gatherings and celebrations will be taking place," said the advisory -- the fifth "worldwide caution" of its type since August 4.

Last week, Jordan said it had arrested 13 people who were planning "terrorist" attacks there after training in Afghanistan. At least one other suspect -- and perhaps many more -- was arrested in Pakistan.

Berger said the United States was investigating possible ties between Ressam and guerrilla groups, including those headed by Osama bin Laden, the Afghanistan-based Saudi financier wanted on charges of masterminding the August 1998 bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Ressam was suspected of belonging to Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, which seeks to overthrow the secular Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state.

Apart from any risk from overseas, the FBI has warned local police of the danger of violence by cults seeking to spark an apocalyptic battle and by those fearing a supposed conspiracy to impose world government.

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Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

just another piece of the puzzle.
Y2K is Real.
Y2K is a sub-set of the Millennium Problem.

-- Dan G (earth_changes@hotmail.com), December 20, 1999.

Yeah but look on the bright side, after all this is over we won't have to worry about it again for a thousand years.

-- (always@optimistic.com), December 20, 1999.