Text of State Dept. Warning About Possible Bomb Threat

The following was distributed to all U.S. diplomatic posts in Europe on Dec. 9 by the State Department. Copies were also sent to a number of other U.S. missions. Additional copies were sent to the Federal Aviation Administraton offices in the United States and abroad and to the CIA in Washington. The document is unclassified, marked “For official use only,” and is issued under the authority of Raymond Salazar, director of civil aviation security.

SECURITY BULLETIN

Subject: Alleged bombing threat--Europe

Threat information: On Dec. 5, 1988, an unidentified individual telephoned a U.S. diplomatic facility in Europe and stated that some time within the next two weeks, there would be a bombing attempt against a Pan American aircraft flying from Frankfurt, FRG (Federal Republic of Germany) to the U.S. An individual identified as “Yassan Garadat,” who allegedly is in Finland, and a second individual identified only as “Abdullah” and is in Frankfurt, are involved.

According to the caller, Abdullah will provide a device to Garadat who will in turn provide it to an unidentified Finnish woman in Helsinki. The woman would unwittingly take the device to Frankfurt and eventually onto the U.S.-bound flight. The caller, who spoke with a Middle Eastern accent, claimed that the two individuals had ties to the Abu Nidal organization. He would not comment as to how he acquired the information.

FAA comment: The reliability of the information cannot be assessed at this point. The appropriate police authorities have been advised and are pursuing the matter. Pan American is also aware of the threat information. As reported in FAA security bulletins ACS-88-19 and ACS-88-20, terrorist groups continue to target civil aviation, at times with the use of sophisticated improvised explosive devices that may be very difficult to detect during screening. Unwitting couriers have also been employed in the past.

Action required:

A. This bulletin with full FAA comments, must be passed immediately to the principal security inspectors for dissemination to all U.S. carriers with service to Europe. The bulletin should also be provided to other U.S. carriers with international routes. The carriers must be specifically told that the information in this bulletin is solely for the use of U.S. carriers and airport aviation security personnel in the performance of their official duties and may not be further disseminated without the official approval of the director of civil aviation security.

B. All air carriers with scheduled international operations must insure that the requirements of the ACSSP section XV.A.5 and SV.C.2 (E) are rigorously applied.

C. No agency or organization not on direct dissemination for this security bulletin may use or incorporate any part of this document in any other communication without specific approval of the director of civil aviation security.