Capitol among new US terror targets

Homeland security adviser Frances Townsend said on CBS' "Face the Nation" the targets were in addition to the five cited last week when the terror threat alert was raised to the second-highest level for financial buildings in Washington, New York and Newark, New Jersey.

Asked if there had been a threat against Washington or lawmakers, Townsend said, "Yes, in the past and as part of this continuing threat stream, and so we shared that with them."

US Sen. Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat, said he had been briefed by the FBI regarding the situation in Washington, where security has been increased in the past week, most notably with checkpoints around the Capitol, occupied by Congress.

The US government raised the threat level based on e~idence gathered from computer expert Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, whose secret arrest in July has helped authorities track down al- Qaeda militants in Britain and the United States.

Information gathered from Khan revealed interest in attacking the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, and the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup in New York and the Prudential Financial building in New Jersey.

Biden said "there were several things" that, combined with the captured information, gave officials reason to believe some old "plans still might be viablm or still may be being considered" for Washington.

"There is reason to be concerned. I don't think there is reason to be alarmed," he said.

On "Fox News Sunday," Townsend said, "There weze others (targets). We obviously didn't want to go out with everything that we knew and indicate to the tmrrorists exactly what we knew.... We worked directly with those other entities that have been targeted to take additional security precautions."

Townsend and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, also appearing on the Sunday talk shows, said US officials continue to be concerned about an attack intended to disrupt the Nov. 2 presidential election.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has given US officials what they consider credible and specific information indicating that al-Qaeda has considered using tourist helicopters in attacks in New York City, the New York Times said yesterday, citing US security officials.

A new directive as early as this week will call for increased security measures for helicopter operators, the officials said.

Among the measures under review is a requirement to screen passengers for suspicious items, a Department of Homeland Security official who was briefed on the plan told the newspaper. No groundings are planned, the newspaper said.