Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Schumer: Cyanide plot was serious

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 19, 2006

NEW YORK - A Democratic lawmaker said Sunday that a reported plot by al-Qaida terrorists to kill thousands of New Yorkers by spreading cyanide gas in the subway was considered a valid threat.

The cyanide plot is described in a new book, The One Percent Doctrine, by author Ron Suskind and excerpted in the current issue of Time magazine.

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, a leading proponent in Congress of tighter security measures for the nation's ports and transportation systems, quoted security authorities, "both federal and local," as saying the al-Qaida plan to spread deadly gas in the subways in 2003 was considered a valid threat.

"It came from a serious source. It was never corroborated, but it was certainly enough to be taken seriously, and law enforcement, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force, worked together, taking all the precautions," Schumer said.

He said he could not vouch for all details outlined in the book, but "the basic thrust of the story seems to be true. There were only inklings about it at the time."

According to the book, U.S. intelligence agencies learned the scheme involved the use of a crude but effective device made of Mason jars that would release the deadly gas through several subway cars, but the plot was called off, 45 days before it was set to occur, by Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Paul Browne, a New York Police Department spokesman, said Saturday that authorities had known about the planned attack.

"We were aware of the plot and took appropriate precaution," he said.

FBI spokesman Bill Carter said the bureau would have no comment on the excerpted material, and on Sunday's CBS' Face the Nation, White House press secretary Tony Snow said, "I don't want to confirm or deny this particular story."

The excerpt of Suskind's book was to appear in Time's issue hitting newsstands today. Suskind is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

[Last modified June 19, 2006, 05:30:20]