FBI Warns Of Threat To U.S. Jews

The FBI is advising law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for terrorists who could be plotting to use fuel tankers to attack Jewish schools and synagogues, a federal official said Friday.

The law enforcement official, who asked not to be identified further, said the warning was sent to local police agencies Friday.

Another official said the warning was not based on a specific threat, but on interviews with captured al Qaeda and Taliban fighters who indicated such a plot had been discussed. The interviews with detainees did not reveal a target city or time.

President Bush said, "Any time we get any kind of threat that we think is serious, we'll put it out and people need to respond accordingly."

The notice to law enforcement agencies said terrorists may be interested in using fuel tankers and "reporting indicates the possible targeting of fuel depots or Jewish schools or synagogues."

"Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to make contact with appropriate Jewish community representatives and officials and trucking and fuel delivery facilities that operate fuel tanker trucks or commercial fueling stations and emphasize the need to report suspicious activities or persons," the notice said.

Administration officials stressed that the information was as unspecified and as uncorroborated as intelligence that led to similar alerts concerning shopping malls and banks in recent weeks.

The nation's overall alert status is unchanged from code yellow, which is the third-highest stage of alert.

Some leaders in Jewish communities said they took the advisory seriously.

"It's not a time to panic," Rabbi Marvin Heir, dean of the Simon Weisenthal Center in West Los Angeles, "but it's better safe than late."

"And we have already planned even before this new threat to beef up security. Look, the al Qaeda group, these terrorists, they have a culture of hate and a culture of a love of death," he said.

The United States believes the al Qaeda network has used fuel tankers as weapons before.

In Tunisia, a man is believed to have blown up a gas truck near the historic Ghriba synagogue last month. Eighteen people were killed, many of them German tourists.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, is suspected of ties to the bombing, a U.S. official has said.

Meanwhile, the FBI said it is investigating a Nevada man's claim that he picked up a conversation in Arabic on his cell phone during which someone said there would be a "hit" on the "day of freedom."

"We've initiated a full-scale investigation to determine if this constitutes a threat, and if so, what kind of threat," said Daron Borst, a FBI Special Agent in Las Vegas.

Borst said agents have interviewed the man who reported the conversation, Michael Hamdan, and plan to question him again Friday.

In an interview with CBS Radio News, Borst said the FBI has "been made aware of the gentleman's claim that he intercepted the phone call, and we are taking it seriously."

Hamdan, 54, said he's a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Lebanon and speaks Arabic.

Hamdan said he was trying to call his wife on his cell phone Saturday when he heard Arabic voices.

"They said in Arabic, not even a word of English, 'We are in the city of corruption, the city of prostitution, the city of gambling, the city of unbelievers,'" said Hamdan.

He said he also heard a voice say: "We are going to hit them on the day of freedom."

Hamdan said the call lasted about 90 seconds before the line went dead. He said he believes the men were talking about July Fourth.

"I was frozen, absolutely cold," Hamdan said. "I was sweating. I couldn't believe what I heard."

Hamdan said he reported what he heard to the FBI early Sunday morning.

CBS News Affiliate KLAS-TV reports the FBI is now trying to trace the cell phone call Hamdan said he overheard.

Hamdan, who is married and has two children, described himself as a semi-retired businessman. He said he moved to the United States in 1976.

Hamdan's tip to the FBI comes as the agency is on alert with plans to monitor Independence Day parades and festivities nationwide, although not because of any specific threat.

Accordingly, the government has not put out a public warning or advisory for Americans to be more cautious specifically on July Fourth.

But the Bush administration's Homeland Security office has advised government personnel at many levels that security staffing should remain at normal levels, just as if it were not a holiday.

The FBI's plans for safeguarding the Fourth were due at the agency's headquarters this week.

While the plans are not reported to be a reaction to any specific threat, terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba have revealed a "general interest" in striking on that day.

Monitoring of Fourth of July events is expected to include several forms of electronic surveillance as well as a heavy presence of field agents, both apparent and undercover.