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American Morning

FBI Warning Terrorists May be Planning to Use Shoulder-Fired Missiles on U.S. Planes

Aired May 31, 2002 - 09:02   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to go to our "Up Front" this morning, and that is a reminder the FBI is warning U.S. airlines that terrorists may be planning to use shoulder-fired missiles on U.S. planes either in the U.S. or abroad. And there is some new evidence to support that theory.

Here with more on that story is CNN Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, what's going on at the Pentagon this morning. Good morning.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, almost as if to underscore the story that we've been talking about for the last day now, in Afghanistan today, U.S. soldiers reporting that they found a cache of SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles, about 30 of them, in a location in the Khowst area. This is where they are scouring eastern Afghanistan, and this just shows that Al Qaeda and Taliban clearly have access to these kinds of portable anti-aircraft missiles.

It was discovery of a launcher, a launcher tube, near the Prince Sultan Airbase earlier this month that really set this in motion, and that appeared now to be an attempt to shoot down a plane at the U.S. -- U.S. planes at the Prince Sultan Airbase. That resulted in the FBI putting out a warning, just an alert, that the Al Qaeda terrorist do have access to these weapons, and they may try to use them in the United States against U.S. aircraft. This alert just went to every domestic law enforcement agency and the airlines the FAA, just to tell everybody to be extra vigilant and try to watch out for any signs of that that might be happening.

ZAHN: But once again, you are also being told, Jamie, by the Pentagon that there is no specific evidence that Al Qaeda has a plan in mind, right, to take down a U.S. commercial airliner with a shoulder-fired missile?

MCINTYRE: Right, there is no intelligence indicating a specific plan. However, this is not entirely just based on a general warning, because there was a specific incident in Saudi Arabia, which in retrospect, looks like it might have been an attempt. So the thinking was if they could get to this remote desert airbase, a very secure airbase in Saudi Arabia, and perhaps make an attempt there, then they ought to -- that ought to set off some alarms that they could be trying it in other places as well. ZAHN: Again, there are no special precautions being taken by airlines, but they want us all to remain vigilant. That's the bottom line here?

MCINTYRE: That's basically it.

ZAHN: All right, Jamie McIntyre, thanks so much for that late report from the Pentagon.

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