FAA and FBI Tighten Anti-Terrorist Security : Southland: Airport officials in Los Angeles and Orange County are briefed on preventing attacks.

As the deadline for Iraq to leave Kuwait closes fast, local and federal law enforcement agencies have begun taking steps to fortify Southern California against possible terrorist attacks.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday briefed security officials at Los Angeles International Airport on plans to prevent potential ambushes by Middle East terrorists. Officials at John Wayne Airport in Orange County said they, too, have embraced the FAA’s “series of contingency measures in the event of military activity in the Persian Gulf.”

Meanwhile, the FBI said command posts have been established in its Los Angeles office on Wilshire Boulevard and in San Diego to gather information and respond to possible terrorist strikes.

In addition, a multi-agency task force, created in the wake of the 1984 Olympics, has intensified its operations as danger of war in the Persian Gulf grows. The task force is staffed by intelligence-gathering detectives and experts from the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“Obviously, there’s been a real need recognized for this kind of multi-agency involvement,” Cmdr. William Booth, the chief LAPD spokesman, said Wednesday. “And the value of it today becomes much more apparent in times like these, when there is a major international problem. We have not faced a potential for war that is as great as we currently face in a long, long time.”

Some anti-terrorism experts think Iraqi militants could be drawn to Southern California because of its numerous defense plants, shipyards and airports. At the same time, they point out, there is a large population of recent Middle Eastern immigrants.

Although applauding law enforcement efforts to prevent attacks here, the experts cautioned that they do not believe Southern California or other regions of the United States will become major targets of terrorism.

“It certainly is prudent to prepare in any way we can and be vigilant about security. That’s without question,” said Bruce Hoffman, associate director of the RAND Corp.’s International Security and Defense Strategy Program.

But he said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is “shrewd and crafty enough” to realize that a terrorist attack within U.S. borders would only serve to galvanize American spirit for an all-out war against Iraq.

“It would be like letting the genie out of the bottle,” he said. “Any restraints the United States has been under in the past would completely vanish.”

Brian Jenkins, an anti-terrorism expert with Kroll Associates in Los Angeles, said that although law enforcement is prudent in beefing up security precautions, it is important for the public not to become alarmed that America has become a new battleground for international terrorists.

“In this country, we’re probably at the edge of their reach,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean you can rule out a terrorist spectacular. It is equally prudent not to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm that gives us terror without terrorism. We Americans should not imagine this as Ft. Apache.”

The recent heightened security arrangements by area law enforcement officials follow a trend across the country, with many federal, state and police agencies bracing for possible terrorist strikes.

In Los Angeles, the FBI command post will gather and share information on potential threats with other law enforcement agencies.

In Washington, chief FBI spokesman Tom Jones said Wednesday that the command posts are being established at large field offices such as Los Angeles, where the potential for terrorist acts are greatest.

Jones said the command posts are being opened at the direction of local FBI officials, and one of their primary goals is to interview Arab-Americans. Earlier this week, FBI agents began interviewing 100 Arab-American business leaders in the United States to learn what they may have heard about possible terrorist activity. They stressed that the people interviewed are not considered terrorist suspects.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has conducted census surveys and determined that there are about 63,500 Iraqis in this country, INS Spokesman Duke Austin said. He added that the agency has learned that California is the second largest state for Iraqi foreign students, with 123 studying here.

Gilbert Sandoval, chief of security at LAX, said the FAA has issued a contingency plan to all airport operators and air carriers that deals with potential terrorist attacks rising out of the Persian Gulf situation.

“It’s fair to say that security awareness has been stepped up,” he said. “We conducted a briefing this morning for airlines, airport tenants and other personnel that might be affected by elements of the contingency plan.”

While declining to discuss specifics, Sandoval added: “We’re prepared to enforce all the mandates in those contingency plans.”

FAA officials also declined to detail the plans. “We do not talk about these things,” said Fred Farrar, an FAA spokesman in Washington. “We do not like the other side to know what we’re doing.”

Courtney Wiercioch, a spokeswoman for John Wayne Airport, said officials there have also been briefed by the FAA.

“In general,” she said of the plans, “they are designed to increase security awareness and strengthen security procedures.”

Likewise, LAPD officials were tight-lipped about their anti-terrorist measures although police spokesman Booth said detectives who specialize in intelligence gathering are keenly aware of the eroding situation in the gulf.

Booth said a regional task force composed of local and federal law enforcement officials was set up to handle potential acts of terrorism during the Olympics here in 1984. He said that group was dissolved after the Olympics but that a permanent Los Angeles Task Force on Terrorism was created in April, 1986.

Times staff writer Ronald Ostrow, in Washington, contributed to this story.