The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center

Air Force One Photo Op Creates Terror Scare In NYC Posted: 27 Apr 2009 07:48 PM PDT A jumbo jet being chased by a F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings. It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post. President Obama was in Washington at the time, but the low-flying 747 circling the Statue of Liberty was one of the planes used as Air Force One, sources said. The NYPD and the city were notified of the planned flight, but did not share that information with Mayor Bloomberg and other New Yorkers, many of whom said they were terrified. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Share this post

Seattle Militant To Testify In High-stakes Terror Trial Posted: 27 Apr 2009 07:36 PM PDT Ten years ago, on a dusty ranch in southern Oregon, one-time Seattle hustler and Muslim convert James Ujaama came close to having his head cut off by a Swede named Oussama Kassir. Kassir, according to court documents, had come to Bly, Ore., on the orders of Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Islamic preacher and purported al-Qaida recruiter in London, to help Ujaama set up a Jihad training camp on U.S. soil. Ujaama had promised Abu Hamza guns, recruits and terrain remarkably similar to Afghanistan. Kassir, a hardened Jihad fighter who claims he’s killed dozens in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya, was purportedly dispatched from London with another man and $12,000 in startup money. What Kassir and his comrade found after their 7,000-mile trip were a couple of dilapidated trailers, a motley group of followers — including women and children — and a lot of big talk from Ujaama. So Kassir, according to documents and eyewitness accounts, decided that he would kill Ujaama and bury him in Bly. Ujaama managed to keep his head. But Kassir, a Lebanese-born Swedish citizen and engineer who once bragged that he was a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, may wish he’d carried out the threat: This week, the 43-year-old Ujaama — now a federal felon — is expected to be the star witness against Kassir in a terrorism-related trial in U.S. District Court in New York. For the first time, Ujaama will testify about a small group of militant Muslims in Seattle that he led. The group went from commandeering a small mosque in the Central District to becoming entangled in an alleged international terrorism plot. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Share this post

Swine Flu - WHO Raises Pandemic Alert Level To 4 Posted: 27 Apr 2009 02:18 PM PDT The World Health Organization has raised the pandemic alert level to 4 due to the swine flu outbreak, the highest since the scale was developed in 2005. Read the announcement. The scale has six phases, with 4 through 6 being the most serious: • Phase 4 is characterized by verified human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal influenza reassortant virus able to cause “community-level outbreaks.” The ability to cause sustained disease outbreaks in a community marks a significant upwards shift in the risk for a pandemic. Any country that suspects or has verified such an event should urgently consult with WHO so that the situation can be jointly assessed and a decision made by the affected country if implementation of a rapid pandemic containment operation is warranted. Phase 4 indicates a significant increase in risk of a pandemic but does not necessarily mean that a pandemic is a forgone conclusion. • Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short. • Phase 6, the pandemic phase, is characterized by community level outbreaks in at least one other country in a different WHO region in addition to the criteria defined in Phase 5. Designation of this phase will indicate that a global pandemic is under way. The latest WHO updates can be found here. The Obama administration is already responding as if the outbreak were a pandemic, Janet Napolitano, head of the Homeland Security Department, told reporters earlier. “We want to make sure that we have people where they need to be, equipment where it needs to be and, most of all, information shared at all levels,” she said. “We are proceeding as if we are preparing to a full pandemic,” she said. Travel warnings to Mexico would remain in effect as long as swine flu is detected, she added. Source Swine Flu News Updates This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Share this post

Air France Plane With No-Fly Passenger Barred From U.S. Airspace Posted: 27 Apr 2009 08:56 AM PDT U.S. authorities stopped an Air France flight on its way to Mexico from entering U.S. airspace after learning one of the passengers was on the terrorist watch list, the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper reported. The April 18 flight from Paris to Mexico was carrying journalist Gernando Calvo Ospina, who has written about revolutionary movements in Cuba and Colombia, and is currently researching a book about the CIA, the Telegraph reported. Ospina was told of the incident by the plane’s co-pilot. “I was speechless and my first reaction was to ask, ‘Do you think I’m a terrorist?’,” Ospina told the Telegraph. “He replied ‘no’ and said that was why he told me about it, adding that it was extraordinary and the first time it had happened on an Air France plane.” There were no scheduled stops in the U.S., and the passenger list was only given to Mexican authorities, the Telegraph reported. The flight was forced to divert to the French Caribbean island of Martinique before continuing on, the Telegraph reported. Ospina was on his way to Nicaragua to research a report, a spokesman for Ospina’s Frence publisher told the paper. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information. Share this post

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