MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-03-02 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Baby goes boom?
|
Madrid Bombing Suspect Had Grand Central Sketch
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 2, 2005
Filed at 1:48 p.m. ET
MADRID, Spain (AP) -- A sketch of New York's Grand Central Terminal was
found a year ago in the home of a suspect in the Madrid train bombings,
Spanish and U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The sketch and data were on a computer disk seized about two weeks after
the March 11 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people last year,
the newspaper El Mundo said.
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In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the FBI had informed the
Police Department about the existence of the data on the computer and
the city responded by tightening security at transit centers.
``We've known about the data on the computer for a long time,'' said
Bloomberg, interviewed on WBLS Radio. ``We've taken the appropriate
steps `back when' to beef up security at all of the major transportation
hubs -- train stations and airports and bus stations, places where you
say if a terrorist wanted to attack, they would.''
``We looked at all of our transportation facilities and we think we've
taken appropriate steps. ... It's sad we're in a world where you have to
worry about it, but you do,'' he added.
Spanish police turned the disk over to the U.S. agents from the FBI and
CIA in December once they understood the scope of the technical data,
the report said.
On Wednesday at Grand Central, visible security seemed at its usual high
level, with National Guard, machine-gun-toting law enforcers and
bomb-sniffing dogs.
``I'm used to this,'' said Elaine Weaver, a tourist from Bristol,
England, who was passing through the terminal. ``We're used to bomb
scares everywhere. So you're careful but it doesn't deter me.''
A U.S. Embassy official confirmed that American law enforcement
authorities received information related to Grand Central Terminal from
Spanish authorities in December. The official declined to go into
detail.
However, a Spanish police official said Spanish and U.S. authorities
don't lend much credibility to the sketch, saying it is not even clear
it is supposed to be a picture of Grand Central Terminal.
The official said the drawing's depiction of the station's facade was
similar to that of the actual building but otherwise the drawing was
vague.
A U.S. law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
also described the sketch as ``very rudimentary.''
The Spanish police official confirmed the sketch was found in the home
of Mouhannad Almallah, a Syrian who was arrested in Madrid on March 24
but later released, although he is still considered a suspect.
Almallah was questioned over his alleged ties to two suspects jailed in
connection with the attack after witnesses placed them aboard trains
targeted in the string of 10 bombs, El Mundo said.
A total of 24 people are in jail over the attack, although at least 40
more who were arrested and released are still considered suspects.
Three other accused Islamic militants were indicted on charges of using
Spain as a staging ground for the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. They
are expected to go on trial next month, along with 21 other men accused
of belonging to al-Qaida.
One of the three, Ghasoub al Abrash Ghayoun, a Syrian, traveled to the
United States in 1997 and took video footage of the Twin Towers, the
Golden Gate Bridge and other landmarks and passed the video on to
al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan, Spanish judges and prosecutors say.
These officials say the video was too detailed to have been simply for
tourism.
After the Madrid attack, security around New York City's subways and
commuter points, such as Grand Central and Penn Station, were ratcheted
above the already-high post-9/11 levels.
Peter Kalikow, chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
said at the time that the chance of a transit attack in New York was
``diminished, but possible.'' He added that if an emergency occurred,
``100 guys would show up right away.'' He refused to disclose exact
numbers.
Kalikow also said the MTA's chief of security had been in London at the
time of the Spain bombing and was sent to Madrid to observe the
situation.
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