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WASHINGTON, April 4 (UPI) -- A convicted terrorist with links to al-Qaida has told U.S. law enforcement officials that a TV news report he saw about the work of Federal Air Marshals on jetliners contained enough information for him to develop a plan for a hijack team to kill them and take over the plane.
Officials played down the significance of the report, but it highlights the difficult line that federal security agencies must walk when dealing with the news media.
The FBI passed the warning along to the Department of Homeland Security last week in a memo called a Law Enforcement Intelligence Information Report, Federal Air Marshal Service Spokesman David Adams told United Press International.
According to Adams, the terrorist is not identified by name in the report, which says that he has "previous ties" to al-Qaida and is currently in jail. He told authorities a TV news report he had viewed Jan. 7 this year revealed enough about the way air marshals work -- their typical seat assignments, unarmed combat techniques and how they are trained to shoot at hostage-takers -- to enable terrorist planners to develop ways to take them out during a hijacking.
FBI Spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed the FBI had sent the report. "It's a genuine FBI document,Montblanc Meisterstuck," he told UPI, referring further questions to the marshal service.
Adams played down the report's significance, saying that the service was confident in the "excellent training" marshals received and pointing out that they were just one line of defense in a "multi-layered aviation security system that goes from curb to cockpit -- passenger and luggage screening, hardened cockpit doors,Bose Headpones, (armed pilots) and our marshals."
"We're not concerned about the report," he said.
Nevertheless, the news, first broken by the Federal Times newspaper, threatens to re-open a long-running dispute between air marshals and their management about the degree of access that TV news media have been granted to the service's operations.
Jon Adler, national executive vice-president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association which represents over 24,000 federal agents,beats dr dre monster, accused the air marshal service's recently departed director, Thomas Quinn, of "trading safety for sound-bites" in his media relations policy.
In an April 2004 letter to lawmakers, Adler complained about a number of TV reports he said had recently revealed key details of how marshals work and train.
These included the number of marshals that fly a mission, "how (a marshal) presents his/her credentials to the airline gate personnel; the fact that the airline gate personnel know the (marshal's) identity; how the (marshal) is escorted and boarded on the airplane prior to departure; ... the type and model of weapon (marshals) use; and the specific way (marshals) handle and deploy during hijacking situations."
Allowing these details to be broadcast "not only jeopardized the flying public but (marshals') safety as well," concluded Adler's letter.
Monday he told UPI, "We're not happy about (last week's FBI report) but it proves our point ... Lives were put at risk."
Adams insisted that "no sensitive operational procedures were disclosed" in any of the reports Adler had referred to in his 2004 letter. "We are always very careful" when giving the news media access he said.
He defended the service's continued cooperation with the news media. "Part of our concept of operations is public awareness," he said. "These reports helped in building public confidence," he said, and also served as "a deterrent ... to the would-be terrorists out there."
Adams had not seen the broadcast that the report says prompted the incarcerated terrorist to write to the FBI. "We are trying to track down the item to see what's in it," he said.
Adler said that the lack of clarity about the exact source of the item illustrated another problem with the way the service had granted access.
The TV news networks typically archive hard-to-get footage, such as that of air marshals at work, which can then be used again and again, including by any of the network's affiliates. "This looks like it was a re-showing of some kind," Adler said of the Jan. 7 item, noting that the same sequences from the TV reports he criticized in 2004 -- showing the same details of marshals' training and operational procedure -- are shown repeatedly by different stations.
"The cat's out of the bag, and we can't get even a paw back inside," he added.
Adams said that the service had gotten "excellent cooperation" from broadcasters who had been "responsible" in every report he had seen.
Adler dismissed this, saying that it would have been perfectly possible to "televise, even brag, about the (air marshal) program, which is great ... without revealing details that would help someone get control of the aircraft."
Two federal law enforcement officials, who privately shared their reactions to the 2004 reports with UPI, said they were surprised by the level of detail in the TV reports.
"We would never think about giving anyone that kind of access," said one at the time, speaking of his own agency.
"Personally, I was surprised," said another this week. "If you wanted to show how well-trained they are, show them on a firing range."
Striking a more conciliatory note as he looked to the future, Adler added that the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, which represents agents, investigators and prosecutors from more than 50 federal agencies, had high hopes for the Federal Air Marshal Service's new Director Dana Brown.
He said the association believed she had "a lot of common ground" with them and felt they were "off to a good start."
Adler said association representatives hoped to meet Brown late this month or early May to discuss some outstanding security concerns about procedures that marshals have to go to through at airports, because of the need to identify themselves to staff and go around metal detectors. A lot of airports "are not configured to allow that to be done discretely," he said.
But on the issue of media relations, he added, the association believed that Brown had "heard, and shared, our concerns."
Adams defended the access granted under Quinn's leadership, acknowledging that "it is a fine line to walk," but denying that there had been any change in policy. "We continue to be very careful in our dealings with the media," he said.Topics related articles：


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