Airports Elevate Security Posture

Jul 01, 07:15 AM

Current Headlines: By DEB RIECHMANN

By Deb Riechmann

The Associated Press

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine

U.S. airports and mass transit systems will tighten security in response to apparent terrorist incidents in Britain, the Bush administration said Saturday.

The United States, however, is not raising its terror alert status, President Bush's spokesman and the Homeland Security secretary said. "There is no indication of any specific or credible threat to the United States - no change in the overall security level," Tony Snow told reporters in Maine.

Still, U.S. officials were wary. Acting out of "an abundance of caution" during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday , Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said the government is putting in place plans to increase security at airports, on mass transit and at transportation facilities.

"Some of these measures will be visible; others will not," he said in a statement.

Chertoff added that "at this point, I have seen no specific, credible information suggesting that this latest incident is connected to a threat to the homeland. We have no plans at this time to change the national threat level, although we remind everyone that the aviation threat level has been raised to orange since last fall."

Orange is No. 2 of five levels and indicates a high risk of terrorist attacks. The current national threat level is yellow, or the third-highest, indicating an elevated threat.

The Transportation Security Administration is posting more agents outside terminals at some airports, Snow said.

"There will be some inconvenience of passengers in terms of longer wait times," Snow said. Local police also may take separate measures, he added.

Police stepped up curbside patrols with canine units at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty in New Jersey and John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York, took "a number of measures as we always do to respond to security situations immediately," spokesman Steve Coleman said.

Operations at Miami International Airport went on heightened alert through at least Independence Day. Officials were increasing patrols around the perimeter of Philadelphia International Airport.

At Washington's Reagan National and Dulles International airports, spokesman Ron Yingling said some measures are behind the scenes. "I don't think there's anything different in what passengers have to physically do to get through security that's different from yesterday." Bush was in Maine to host Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bush family's summer home on the coast. Putin was to arrive today for a two-day stay.

(c) 2007 Virginian - Pilot. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.