FBI - Threat to West Coast bridges wasn't credible

WASHINGTON -- The FBI concluded Tuesday that the raw intelligence behind last week's warning that terrorists might attack West Coast bridges was not credible.

Nonetheless, the FBI wants law enforcement to remain on high alert and guard against possible terrorist activities in the United States and abroad, officials said.

Meanwhile, the assault on terrorists' money sources also made progress as U.S. and foreign officials zeroed in on a handful of suspected financiers of terrorist activities, officials said.

President Bush planned to announce today the freezing of additional assets and some important law enforcement activities on that front, the officials said, declining to be more specific.

The FBI received uncorroborated intelligence last week suggesting terrorists might strike suspension bridges on the West Coast between last Friday and Wednesday and issued a private warning to law enforcement in eight states. The warning also went to many companies in the region through the FBI's Infragard network that alerts industry to threats.

California Gov. Gray Davis then took the information public the next day, suggesting federal officials had "credible evidence" of a possible terror attack on four bridges in his state.

National Guard troops took up positions on the bridges, and transportation officials beefed up security from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the Holland Tunnel in New York.

But agents who looked further into the raw intelligence found no evidence to corroborate the threat, officials said. They issued an updated message to police nationwide on Tuesday.

"Recipients should be advised that FBI investigation has determined that the threat to suspension bridges is not deemed credible," the message said.

Davis defended his actions. "My No. 1 job is to keep Californians safe," he said Tuesday. "I believe I took the correct steps."

State officials remained on high alert, with California National Guard troops and highway patrol officers continuing to patrol the state's major bridges.

"I'm going to err on the side of caution," Davis said. "I'm going to keep the National Guard and the California Highway Patrol on those bridges for the foreseeable future."

Meanwhile, a top FBI official acknowledged agents still have few clues in the investigation into anthrax attacks that have left four dead and sickened 13 more Americans.

FBI counterterrorism official James Caruso told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing federal law enforcement officials still don't know the number of U.S. labs that handle anthrax or other biological agents.

"We do not know that," Caruso said. "We are pressing hard to determine. I know it's an unsatisfactory answer and unsatisfactory to us as well."

In Nevada, a federal judge on Tuesday ordered a U.S. Consulate employee from Saudi Arabia sent to New Jersey to face charges he accepted bribes to grant visas to foreigners entering the United States.