WASHINGTON – The U.S. is adding air marshals to overseas flights because of concerns about potential terrorism threats originating in Britain and Europe, the Homeland Security chief said Sunday.
The Bush administration said it was satisfied with its current terrorism alert level following an attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London.
“I think given what we know now, we’re comfortable that we’re at the right posture,” Michael Chertoff said.
U.S. airports and mass transit systems are tightening security ahead of the Fourth of July holiday and more air marshals will travel on overseas flights.
Chertoff said officials are also concerned about the possibility of a copycat attack in the U.S., saying it is “another reason why we have put some additional security measures in place.”
“We will be doing operations at various rail locations and other mass transit locations in cooperation with local authorities. Again, not because of a specific piece of credible threat information, but because we are going into a holiday season. There will be a larger number of people traveling,” Chertoff said.
U.S. airports are at the second of five security threat levels – orange – indicating a high risk of terrorist attacks. The current national threat level is yellow, or the third highest, indicating an elevated threat. Chertoff said he does not plan to change those levels.
Britain has raised its security alert level to the highest possible level, indicating terror attacks may be imminent.
Scare at JFK airport
Authorities found a suspicious package and evacuated the American Airlines terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on Sunday morning, but the package proved harmless, officials said.
The package was found on the curb, said a Port Authority spokesman.
“It turned out to be a package containing cologne,” the spokesman said.
Terminal operations were back to normal within an hour and no flights were affected, American Airlines said.
Associated Press
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