Care with translation delays release of bin Laden tape

WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department delayed by at least a day its release of a videotape of Osama bin Laden talking about the Sept. 11 terror attacks, while as many as four separate translations of the Arabic soundtrack are made and English subtitles are prepared.

"What's important is to get it right," said Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke. "The quality of the tape is poor, and the picture is not great. . . . Evidently even if you are a fluent Arabic speaker, it is very hard to hear."

Administration officials said that the tape's value as conclusive proof to audiences in the United States and abroad of bin Laden's involvement in the attacks could be compromised if questions are raised about the translation. Four nongovernment interpreters have been brought in to work on it, officials said.

Some of those who have seen the video provided further details on its contents Wednesday, including the presence of what several described as a visiting "sheik" from Saudi Arabia in whose apparent honor the gathering was held. Senior government officials described the Saudi as disabled in some way.

Sept. 11 charity plans to disburse $75-million

NEW YORK -- The September 11th Fund, criticized as being slow to distribute money to victims of the terrorist attacks, said Wednesday it expects to begin making its biggest payout yet before the end of the year: $75-million.

The fund, created by the United Way and the New York Community Trust, said it will distribute the sum to more than 20,000 people. About two-thirds of the money will go to those who lost their jobs or were driven from their homes.

The fund is the second-largest charity created in the aftermath of the attacks.

Wednesday's announcement represents the first large distribution of charitable aid to people whose jobs and homes were affected.

Fireproofing criticized in trade center collapse

NEW YORK -- Inadequate fireproofing may have contributed to the collapse of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, engineers studying the destruction of the buildings said Wednesday.

Inspections performed during the 1990s indicate that at least some of the steel rods supporting the floors of the twin towers were not covered with enough fireproofing insulation, fire safety expert Frederick W. Mowrer told his colleagues during a meeting on the buildings' collapse. Those floor joists are thought to have been the first parts of the buildings to fail as intense fires heated and weakened them.

But Hyman Brown, an engineer who supervised the construction of the World Trade Center, said the fireproofing met the highest standards and was not a factor in the collapse.

"It lasted the amount of time it was supposed to last and 95 percent of the people got out," said Brown, who is now a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder. "To say that it wasn't adequate when it did its job, I don't understand."

'Low-level threat' to Texas school reported

AUSTIN, Texas -- State officials and the FBI warned on Wednesday that they have learned of a vague threat suggesting two people may retaliate against a Texas school for the U.S. bombing in Afghanistan.

But Gov. Rick Perry urged parents to continue sending their children to school.

"The FBI considers it to be a low-level threat," Perry said.

Houston FBI agent Bob Dogium said the threat has not been corroborated and did not specify the school or what form the retaliation might take.

Algerian indicted in millennium plot

NEW YORK -- An Algerian man was indicted Wednesday on charges he helped a convicted terrorist prepare for a plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport during millennium celebrations.

Samir Ait Mohamed is accused of trying to get weapons for Ahmed Ressam so Ressam could rob banks and raise money for the bombing.

The millennium plot was foiled when Ressam -- who trained in bin Laden-financed terrorist camps in Afghanistan -- was arrested entering Port Angeles, Wash., in late 1999 with a trunkload of explosives.

Germany bans Islamic groups under new laws

BERLIN -- German authorities Wednesday banned a network of Islamic extremist groups and searched 212 premises in seven German states in the first use of tough new security laws passed after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Interior Minister Otto Schily announced he was banning the Cologne-based Caliphate State, its foundation, the Servants of Islam, and 19 other affiliate organizations.

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