Some of the flights are the same as those that drew increased attention
when the US' terror alert was raised to orange, or high, just before
Christmas.
Two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday stressed
there was no specific information about what might be planned, only that those
flights are possible targets.
But there are no plans to raise the terror alert because of the latest
threats, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the Homeland Security
Department.
"We remain concerned about al-Qaida's desire to target aviation,
especially international aviation," he said.
Intelligence sharing
"The US intelligence
community continues to gather specific credible threat information on
international flights, as we have done in an ongoing basis in the past few
weeks.
"We have shared this information with our international partners, and
will work with them to put in place the appropriate security measures."
Over the holidays, security was tightened considerably around the flights
that concerned officials. Passenger airline cargo was inspected, for example,
and law enforcement's presence was increased around airports.
|
"We remain concerned about al-Qaida's desire to target aviation, especially international aviation"
Brian Roehrkasse,
Homeland Security Department |
No flights have been delayed or canceled due to the new threats, officials
said.
However, a senior law enforcement official said US officials are
talking to British and French authorities and no decisions have been made
about delaying or canceling future flights.
Flight delays
Another senior law enforcement official said the intelligence being
gathered is similar to what US authorities were hearing during the
heightened terror alert in December.
That prompted US officials to ask for the
cancellation of two British Airways flights from London to Washington and six
Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles.
A number of other flights were delayed for hours so passengers could be
checked against watch lists.
US officials say they believe the process for checking the backgrounds
of airline passengers and crews has been improved so that those long delays
probably won't be repeated.
An Air France spokeswomen in New York, Diane Cornman, said there was good
cooperation among the airline and US and French government officials.
"We
have been complying with all security measures," she said.