FBI Warns Public of Possible Imminent Attacks

In its strongest warning since the Sept. 11 hijackings, the FBI told Americans on Thursday to be on guard for the possibility of further terrorist attacks “over the next several days.”

“Certain information, while not specific as to target, gives the government reason to believe that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against U.S. interests overseas over the next several days,” the FBI said in a statement.

“The FBI has again alerted all local law enforcement to be on the highest alert and we call on all people to immediately notify the FBI and local law enforcement of any unusual or suspicious activity,” the statement said.

Intelligence reports of an impending threat had been received and were being taken extremely seriously at the highest levels, from President Bush and his top advisors on down, an administration official said. Cabinet-level advisors signed off on Thursday’s warning.

“It is important for the American people to know their government is on full alert, and that’s what that warning showed,” Bush said in a news conference Thursday evening.

“We take every threat seriously. And the American people shouldn’t be surprised that we’re issuing alerts,” he said. “Americans tonight can know that while the threat is ongoing, we are taking every possible step to protect our country from danger.”

Although Bush and law enforcement authorities urged against panic, the late-afternoon announcement sparked an outpouring of phone calls to FBI offices and local police around the country from people who wanted to know if their area was targeted. FBI field agents responded that they had no specific reason to think so. The warning was based on what was deemed a “credible” threat received by the CIA in recent days, perhaps routed from the intelligence service of an allied country overseas, according to law enforcement sources.

Authorities would not discuss the nature of the threat. But one U.S. official said, “We get threat reports all the time, and what’s happened in the past few days is that there’s just been more reporting that reinforces the view we’ve had all along: that terrorists are going to strike again.”

“It’s not different from what we have been saying--that there’s a high probability that terrorists will strike again within the United States,” the official said.

According to another administration official, “there is heightened concern in the intelligence community that bits and pieces of information they have picked up points to something that is going to happen real soon.”

“We don’t have the specificity that allows us to pinpoint the threat exactly, to point the warning in one particular direction,” the official said.

The official noted that Al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman abu Ghaith made reference in a televised warning that the airplane hijackings were not over. But the official said the administration has “not yet” taken such extraordinary steps as limiting flights.

“We’ve talked about taking lots of steps. If we get more information that is actionable, we will act on it.”

The warning was put out by the FBI about 3:45 p.m. EDT to about 18,000 law enforcement agencies worldwide through a government alert system. The Justice Department then took the unusual step of putting out a public statement essentially repeating the warning because officials believed it was likely to leak to the public in some form anyway, as has happened repeatedly in the last few weeks.

“Rather than having false information put out there, we thought it would be more responsible to put it out there publicly ourselves,” Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said.

“This is a reminder for everyone to be on their highest alert, as we’ve already asked them to be. We’ve encouraged everyone to report anything suspicious they see. As the president and the attorney general have said, we need to be prepared but not panicked.”

In FBI field offices, however, some agents who were taking dozens of calls from worried residents throughout the late afternoon questioned the effectiveness of the strategy.

One agent, who asked not to be identified, said the warnings “certainly are creating widespread anxiety.”

Los Angeles-area law enforcement agencies said they did not need to take additional precautions, because they geared up for possible attacks when the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan.

“We’ve been on a heightened state of alert since Sunday,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Patterson.

Officials said they knew of no specific terrorist threats.

Still, Los Angeles County’s emergency operations center in East Los Angeles has been running round-the-clock and coordinating with a mutli-agency terror early-warning group that includes the FBI and health officials, Patterson said.

The Los Angeles Police Department also was maintaining its modified tactical alert, meaning extra officers on duty in key units.

Bush appealed Thursday evening for Americans to notify local police of anything suspicious.

LAPD spokesman Jason Lee said there has been a surge in false alarms for the bomb squad since Sept. 11, including 35 calls to Los Angeles International Airport alone. But “we still want the calls,” Lee said.

Since last month’s attacks, the FBI has urged law enforcement officials and the public to maintain the “highest state of vigilance,” warning that further attacks became almost inevitable once the United States began bombing Afghanistan on Sunday.

Authorities have made specific warnings before this, including calls from Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft to officials in Boston warning about the possibility of attacks there the weekend of Sept. 22. Ashcroft also called Hollywood movie executives and Gov. Gray Davis last month warning about the possibility of attacks on major studios.

But those warnings, unlike the one issued Thursday, were made privately. And never before had the FBI warned of the prospect of an imminent attack, as it did Thursday.

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Times staff writer Rich Connell contributed to this report.