Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said yesterday the terrorism threat level will likely be lowered from the high-risk Code Orange in the coming days.
Speaking on the Sunday TV talk shows, Ridge said that even though some information from tipsters has been discredited, current intelligence does not allow a lowering of the threat level back to Code Yellow, or elevated risk.
“Because we review the information and our intelligence on a day-to-day basis, we maintain it at the orange level, but that could change within 24 to 48 hours,” the Homeland Security chief said.
“Although some [intelligence information] may have faded in terms of accuracy or relevance, there is still enough out there for us to remain on an orange level.”
Ridge said he was “confident” the level would be rolled back to yellow.
His department put the country on the second-highest level of security alert on Feb. 7. New York City has been on orange alert for 17 months.
The decision to go to Code Orange was based partly on bogus information sold by a couple of unreliable informants, Newsweek magazine reported.
One of the informants said al Qaeda had obtained the missing piece – probably a mechanism to disperse radioactive particles – it needed to make a dirty bomb, the magazine said.
The second informant said the terrorist group was planning to attack a Jewish-owned hotel in Virginia Beach, about two hours from Washington.
But the tip that al Qaeda had perfected a dirty bomb “didn’t pan out,” Newsweek said.
And the informant who warned of the hotel attack flunked a lie-detector test.
“This is what happens when you pay for intelligence,” a well-placed source said.
In other developments:
* Ridge will present a “Ready Campaign” Wednesday encouraging the public to have a communication plan with family members, to prepare an emergency supply kit and to “stay alert on a day to day basis.”
* John Stevens, the head of London’s Metropolitan Police, said al Qaeda has a “substantial presence” in Britain. Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan, a 37-year-old Venezuelan busted Thursday after a hand grenade was found in his luggage at Gatwick Airport, was charged with possession of items for terrorist purposes.
* A bomb scare closed the IRT subway station at West 72nd Street for 45 minutes after a suspicious bag was found on the platform. An examination of the black duffel bag revealed it contained only ski hats, gloves and scarves.
With Post Wire Services