Shoebomb Anniversary Alert
A year after a passenger failed to blow up an airliner with a shoe bomb, the FBI is warning that terrorists remain interested in carrying out such an attack and that winter coats and shoes could be used to conceal explosives.
In an advisory sent out Monday night to law enforcement nationwide, the FBI said it had no information of any specific threats or plots for a holiday terrorist bombing, according to officials familiar with the advisory.
But the FBI advisory said U.S. authorities continue to receive intelligence that terrorists remain interested in a shoe bomb attack like the one Richard Reid was prevented from carrying out a year ago this week, the officials said, speaking only on condition of anonymity.
Reid, a British citizen, was overpowered by passengers and crew aboard an American Airlines jet on Dec. 22, 2001, after he unsuccessfully sought to light the fuse of an explosive hidden in his shoes. The Paris-to-Miami flight was diverted to Boston, where Reid was taken into custody.
Reid, 29, has since pleaded guilty to trying to blow up the flight. A convert to Islam, Reid has acknowledged in court that he is a member of al-Qaida and pledged his support to Osama bin Laden. He faces between 60 years and life in prison when sentenced Jan. 8.
The officials told The Associated Press the FBI's advisory Monday was timed to remind law enforcement of the one-year anniversary of Reid's failed attack and to urge vigilance in warding off such attempts in the future.
The officials said the warning suggested that winter jackets, shoes and other items of clothing could be used by terrorists to conceal explosives.
Because of this warning, it wasn't the weather as much as the wrapping that delayed many Americans on Christmas Eve. As CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart reports, travelers learned the hard way that gift wrapped presents immediately targeted them for extra security searches.
"I have a huge box behind me with a lot of presents in it and they say there's a good chance it's going to have to be opened in the next 10 minutes. It should be an interesting afternoon," says Jack Koller, a passenger at National Airport.
Cindy Meadows, a passenger at the Dallas airport, had two suitcases of wrapped presents. She missed her flight.
"My whole trip was delayed four hours because I was told I could leave my presents wrapped, and believe me, you can't leave them wrapped. Unwrap 'em!" she explained.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials said they would meet next week's deadline for examining all checked baggage for explosives and are augmenting that with dog teams that will cover other aspects of the airport.
"You come in and see them in one concourse one day and they get dispatched to another concourse, or a vehicle that's left unattended at the ramp, or maybe be able to go over and search a particular aircraft," Dave Kontny of TSA tells Stewart.
Even when it does not have specific information about terrorist plots, the FBI has been trying to send local law enforcement agencies nationwide advisories every seven to 10 days highlighting the most recent analysis of intelligence to keep officials focused on possible threats and to identify potential "soft targets" that might be selected by terrorists, the officials said.
"The advisory was designed to simply remind law enforcement that terrorists often like anniversaries and that they also remain interested in shoe bombs as a possible form of attack," one senior law enforcement official said. "But it was not based on a specific threat."
Beyond the one-year anniversary and Reid's impending sentencing in a federal courthouse in Boston, there have been other recent developments in the shoe bomber case.
French authorities late last month detained seven suspected Islamic militants with possible ties to Reid.
Anti-terrorism judges authorized the pre-dawn arrests of six Algerians and Pakistanis in Paris' suburbs, including one imam of a mosque. A seventh suspect who once ran a Paris prayer hall was picked up on Reunion island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean, officials said.
FBI officials have said they suspected Reid received help in creating the shoe bomb and continue to look for possible accomplices. Among the evidence authorities are pursuing is an unidentified hair and a palm print found on the explosives inside Reid's shoes.