WASHINGTON ? The government raised its terror threat level to ?high risk? orange on Friday, warning of a growing possibility that the al-Qaida network would launch an attack against the United States to coincide with Muslim holy days.
Changing the terror alert color from ?yellow? triggered tighter security at borders, airports and hotels. Officials also urged greater vigilance by all Americans.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said the government had received intelligence information, corroborated by multiple sources, that Osama bin Laden?s terror organization sought to attack Americans at home or abroad during the time of the annual hajj pilgrimage to the holy Saudi city of Mecca. The five-day hajj involving tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims begins Saturday.
The intelligence indicates that al-Qaida operatives might attempt to attack ?soft? or lightly guarded targets such as apartment buildings and hotels and that such attacks could involve chemical, biological or radiological devices. Officials have been particularly concerned about the use of a so-called ?dirty bomb? that could spew radiation over a relatively confined area, but there was also the possibility of conventional explosives or even assassinations.
A few hours after the announcement, the FBI issued an alert to law enforcement and the public for help in finding a Pakistani man identified as Mohammed Sher Mohammed Khan, 36, who it said may have entered the United States illegally.<
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