Feds assist local police in vigilance with threats

Facing the prospect of a U.S.-led war with Iraq, FBI officials nationwide are working to help local law enforcement look beyond the end of the Muslim holiday that prompted the most recent terror warning and improve preparations for possible chemical, biological or radiological attacks, officials said.

The information coming from the federal government has been useful for Cape Girardeau police, said. Lt. Tracy Lemonds of the Cape Girardeau Police Department. Lemonds is a member of the Anti-Terrorism Task Force Eastern District of Missouri.

"When I go to ATTF meetings monthly, we get handouts from different sources, which can be valuable," Lemonds said.

He then distributes the information to members of his department. On Friday, Cape Girardeau patrolmen were given copies of a reference card listing some indicating signs that can be spotted before a terrorist act.

"Terrorist attacks all have pre-incident indicators, and this is a quick-reference card for patrol officers with a bulleted checklist of what to look for and what would be considered suspicious," he said.

Terrorist details

In detailed advisories over the past week, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security provided information to local law enforcement about the type of biological and chemical weapons that U.S. and foreign intelligence indicates al-Qaida already has obtained and tested.

Some of the advisories reported that U.S. authorities obtained last year evidence from al-Qaida showing members of the terrorist network had tested mustard gas and sarin and VX nerve agents, according to law enforcement officials who saw the advisories.

"Information indicates the group has experimented with procedures for making blister and nerve chemical agents," one unclassified advisory sent out at midweek said.

Some of the advisories cautioned that chemical and biological attacks could be staged at multiple locations and synchronized to cause the greatest possible panic, officials said.

Other law enforcement intelligence highlighted evidence gathered from recent arrests overseas of terrorists who were dabbling with a lethal poison known as ricin, derived from the castor bean plant, officials said.

Federal law enforcement and U.S. intelligence officials say they have no specific intelligence as of yet suggesting a specific type, location or timing of a terrorist operation connected to possible U.S. action of Iraq but that intelligence analysts believe there is a high likelihood such an attack will be attempted by al-Qaida if a war begins in the Persian Gulf.

Osama Bin Laden's tape recorded message last week calling Muslims to take up arms in defense of Iraq has only heightened that concern, officials said.

FBI investigators also have gathered evidence that as many as a dozen men who trained at al-Qaida training camps are currently on U.S. soil -- raising the prospect they may be part of existing terror cells able to launch attacks if a war starts, officials said.

Officials said the effort to prepare law enforcement for war-related terrorism is more subtle and preparatory than the instant alert last week that raised the nation's threat level to orange, its second highest.

That step was taken because of specific, multiple pieces of intelligence indicating the likelihood of attack during the Eid al-Adha, the four-day Muslim holiday at the end of the hajj pilgrimage. The trek to Islam's holy city, Mecca, ended Thursday.

Better communication

The Anti-Terrorism Task Force Eastern District of Missouri has improved intra-agency communications, Lemonds said. The ATTF has about 60 people from 30 different federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including representatives from Cape Girardeau, St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles. The group meets monthly, and members develop contingency plans and hear presentations on emergency responses and the latest information on terrorism.

This has facilitated professional friendships with the other federal agencies that don't have resident offices in Cape Girardeau, Lemonds said.

His office receives e-mails on an almost daily basis from the U.S. Attorney General's office with information bulletins and alerts, he said.

"These intelligence bulletins are one of many ways the federal government communicate with state and local law enforcement, and one of the primary purposes is to provide detailed information in a variety of terrorism related situations they may encounter," FBI spokesman Mike Kortan said.

For instance, law enforcement nationwide were sent a copy last week of the Chemical, Biological and Radiological Incident handbook, a 1998 document maintained by the CIA that educates readers about the various terms, dangers and histories of such potential terrorist weaponry, officials said.

Occasionally, a resident will call the Cape Girardeau Police Department, seeking information about how to best prepare for a possible terrorist attack.

"We get those calls every so often," Lemonds said. "I talked to one woman myself last week. She was concerned about the terrorist threat level being raised to orange. The threat alert listed 'soft' targets and mentioned apartments. She lives in an apartment complex and wanted to know what we could tell her to do for preparedness. That question is very hard to answer. Because we're not talking about an earthquake. If a terrorist attack would occur, how do you prepare for something you don't know what the results could be?"

Lemonds advised the woman to take some standard measures: store food, water and first aid supplies and use common sense in a disaster.

Staff writer Mike Wells contributed to this report.