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Threat level reduced, but agencies stay on alert
The Justice Department Thursday lowered the threat level of possible terrorist attacks against the United States from "high" to "elevated," but "significant" security measures will remain in place at federal agencies, Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft raised the threat level Feb. 7 on the nation's color-coded terrorism alert system from yellow (elevated) to orange (high). The only previous time Ashcroft had raised the threat level was Sept. 10, 2002 - a day before the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The level reverted to "elevated" two weeks later.
Examples of security measures that will remain in place at federal agencies include random inspections of vehicles entering parking lots; identification checks of all people entering facilities; screening procedures for incoming office mail and other deliveries; and continued coordination of emergency plans with state and local agencies and the private sector.
"The lowering of the threat level is not a signal to government, law enforcement or citizens that the danger of a terrorist attack [has] passed," said Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in a joint statement. "Returning to the elevated level of risk is only an indication that some of the extra protective measures enacted by government and the private sector may be reduced at this time."
The Justice Department, which administers the terror alert system, raised the threat level earlier this month based on intelligence indicating that al Qaeda might be plotting a terrorist attack on "soft," or lightly guarded, targets in the United States or American interests abroad to coincide with the end of Haj, the annual pilgrimage Muslims make to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The period ended in mid-February, which Ashcroft and Ridge said factored into the decision to downgrade the orange threat level to yellow.
"Soft" targets include apartment buildings, shopping malls and hotels.
The lowest level of alert is green, followed by blue, yellow, orange and red. Red indicates a "severe risk of terrorist attacks."
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