Obama May Issue European Travel Alert On Terrorism Fears
WASHINGTON (CBS 2) -- Americans could be facing a European travel alert by Sunday. The Obama administration is considering issuing the advisory over concerns that al-Qaida is planning to attack some European cities.
International travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport learned new details of the alleged plot that involved giving terrorists across Europe marching orders to strike where and when they could.
A travel alert for Europe could come before the end of the weekend in the wake of threats that once again put al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden front and center, reports CBS 2's Dave Carlin.
A new audio tape provides the evidence that bin Laden is alive and plotting. Security experts do not doubt that it is his voice on a 13-minute message recorded recently enough to reference devastating floods in Pakistan.
The message makes no mention of the plot to spread terror in Great Britain, France, Germany, and perhaps Denmark.
CBS 2 spoke to Congressman Peter King by phone, and he said the latest threats seemed to be patterned after the assault on Mumbai in 2008 that killed close to 200 people.
"Mumbai attacks, where you have attacking major hotels, buildings, doing it with machine guns, automatic weapons – that is something to be on guard for," Rep. King said.
If a travel alert is issued, it would not discourage Americans from going to Europe. Instead, it would urge travelers to be extra cautious while there.
"Personally, I'm reasonably careful wherever I go," Nicola Roe, who was traveling to London Saturday night, said.
"The threats are going to be there," Matthias Kwenin, also headed to London, said. "We just have to be courageous, and move on, and ignore them."
Even though there appears to be no imminent danger, security forces across Europe remain on high alert.
