Holiday season ends; terror alert level remains high

WASHINGTON -- The holiday travel season ended without incident but the nation must stay on a high terrorism alert because U.S. authorities continue receiving credible information about possible attacks, federal officials said Monday.

Homeland Security officials closely monitored international flights, professional and college football games and other potential targets over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. Despite the absence of attacks, the danger remains strong enough to retain the orange alert instituted Dec. 21.

Orange is the second-highest of five color-coded threat levels.

"The threat information is evaluated on a daily basis," said Rachel Sunbarger, a Homeland Security spokeswoman. "At this time, the information we have warrants that we remain at a heightened state of alert."

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks the U.S. government has bolstered its human intelligence network, including tripling the number of Arab-speaking analysts and operatives.

A U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the analysts corroborate information from different sources and compare it to past al-Qaida tactics to assess whether there's a "disinformation" campaign to throw off U.S. officials.

Information about possible al-Qaida attacks on U.S. interests continues to surface and U.S. officials have deemed it credible enough to justify the high alert. Though U.S. officials have not disclosed any specific threats, they have passed on information that led to cancellations or delays of certain international flights to Washington and Los Angeles.

For the third straight day Monday, British Airways Flight 223's departure from London to Washington was delayed by about three hours because of security checks. Around 200 passengers sat in the aircraft on the tarmac while the airline waited for clearance for the flight from U.S. authorities.

The flight -- one of three that the airline operates each day to Washington -- was canceled Thursday and Friday and was delayed for U.S.-requested checks for three hours on both Saturday and Sunday. Other British Airways flights to 19 U.S. cities have not been affected, airlines spokesman John Lampl said.

Lampl said British Airways' scheduled flight from London to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, operated normally on Monday. The airline canceled a Saturday flight to Riyadh and a Sunday flight in the other direction.

British Airways met with pilots Monday to discuss their objections to the use of armed sky marshals on flights to the United States. The British Association of Air Line Pilots said deploying armed officers on aircraft would likely endanger lives, and one British vacation operator, Thomas Cook Airlines, said it would cancel flights if sky marshals were to be on board.

A spokesman for British Airways, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that "in principle, where appropriate, with agreed procedures in place, we'd be comfortable" with armed sky marshals on aircraft."

Armed air marshals already fly on U.S. airlines.