Obama urges 'heightened' vigilance for 9/11: White House
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama on Saturday called for a "heightened state of vigilance and preparedness" as the United States marks the 10th anniversary of 9/11 under a terror threat, the White House said.
Obama convened his national security team to review efforts to "mitigate potential terrorist threats" and the steps taken to "enhance the nation's security posture leading into the 9/11 anniversary," the White House said in a readout of the meeting.
The president urged aides including Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and counterterrorism advisor John Brennan to "vigorously" pursue all intelligence data on what US officials describe as a credible bomb attack threat coinciding with the September 11 anniversary.
US agencies have scrambled to chase down what officials said was a credible but unconfirmed threat -- reportedly received by US intelligence agents just this week -- of an Al-Qaeda attack, possibly a car bomb in Washington or New York, around the September 11 commemorations.
"The president also stressed that the United States must not relax its counterterrorism efforts in the weeks and months that follow, as the safety and security of the American people must be a daily priority for all departments and agencies," according to the readout of the meeting.
"The president said that he wants to be kept fully apprised of developments related to the recent threat information and asked for regular updates on security preparations."
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.