By Ed Somers
February 17, 2003

In a February 7 conference call with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), state and local organizations were informed that DHS Secretary Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft would be raising the national threat advisory level from yellow (elevated) to orange (high).

According to the officials on the call, the level was being raised as a result of “a confluence of reporting” from intelligence sources on Al-Qaeda activities targeting U.S. and Persian Gulf targets at the end of the hajj around the time period of February 13, 14 and 15 and could extend into March. However, the Administration made clear that no specific end date for the increased level was being announced and that the threat level is analyzed daily.

In the call, it was stated that many soft targets could be potentially affected including hotels, apartment buildings, large civilian buildings, bridges, energy sources, monuments and symbolic targets.

Following the call, the Conference of Mayors was sent a copy of the NLETS (National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System) message that went out to law enforcement describing the risk of attack, which was immediately forwarded to the mayors.

While the Conference of Mayors and other state and local organizations had originally been told that they would be sent a list of protective measures that states and cities should consider, the information was instead sent directly to state and local law enforcement in that it was designated as “Law Enforcement Sensitive.” Mayors were encouraged to meet with their police chiefs to discuss the provided information. Local law enforcement was also advised to continue to coordinate efforts through the local Joint Terrorism Task Forces run by the FBI.