NYPost

PHONE TAPS SPARKED NEW ALERT

By NILES LATHEM and BRIAN BLOMQUIST

October 31, 2001 -- The latest nationwide terror alert was prompted by phone calls intercepted in Afghanistan in which suspected al Qaeda members conversed in code about a "big event," sources told The Post.

The U.S. military intercepted a "handful" of satellite calls as late as last weekend, and the callers all used the same coded phrases, according to sources in the Bush administration.

There were also intercepted e-mails among suspected al Qaeda operatives in Canada making similar comments, the sources said.

Some intelligence suggested a lieutenant of Osama bin Laden has urged new attacks on Americans, and authorities suspect the terrorists are pre-programmed to strike, offici als told The Associated Press.

The FBI alert did not specify potential targets, and White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge didn't elaborate.

"We believe the United States could very well be targeted this week," he said. "You can fairly assume that experts view this [as] . . . somehow related to al Qaeda or bin Laden, or else we wouldn't have ramped it up."

As a result, Vice President Dick Cheney was taken to an undisclosed secure location to preserve presidential succession.

Mayor Giuliani said the city is "already on the highest alert that it can be on," but beginning tomorrow, nearly 500 armed National Guard troops will watch city bridges, train stations and other sites.

-- Anonymous, October 31, 2001