Bomb Threat Puts Pakistan On "Red Alert"

Bomb Threat Puts Pakistan On "Red Alert"
Heightened Security Put In Place At All Airports After New Intel From Apparent Interrogation

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 25, 2008

(CBS) This story was written by CBS News' Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad and CBSNews.com's Tucker Reals in London.Pakistan's security officials put all of the country's airports on "red alert" Thursday after intelligence warnings of a suicide attack.

"We had very credible information of a suicide attempt in Islamabad which prompted this step," a senior security official told CBS News' Farhan Bokhari. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to address the matter.

At the country's largest airport, in the capital city of Islamabad, only passengers with valid tickets were allowed to enter the airport until Thursday afternoon. A government official said the emergency security measures were under constant review.

The security official said the heightened security was prompted by information gained through the interrogation of a recently arrested militant suspect, but he declined to identify the suspect or say when or where the person was taken into custody.

Thursday's warning came less than a week after a devastating bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad which left at least 53 people dead and more than 260 injured.

A Western defense official in Islamabad told Bokhari there were reports of a number of al Qaeda plans "in the pipeline to attack locations across Pakistan to destabilize the country."

According to a report Wednesday in Pakistan's Daily Times newspaper, intelligence agencies informed the police that three explosives-laden trucks had entered the capital city - one of them known to have been destroyed in the Marriott Hotel attack last Saturday.

Citing anonymous sources, the newspaper said the whereabouts of the other two trucks remained a mystery, but they were believed to be within Islamabad city limits.

It was not immediately clear whether there was a link between the missing trucks reported by the Daily Times and the move by officials to put airports on "red alert" Thursday morning.

Speaking to CBS News on condition of anonymity, the Western official said al Qaeda's central goal was to force Pakistan's leaders to abandon their support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan.

The bulk of logistical supplies for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan pass through Pakistan.

Despite the constant warnings of al Qaeda plots from Pakistani and Western officials in the region, it was another, far-lesser-known group which claimed responsibility for the Marriott Hotel attack over the weekend.

That group, which calls itself "Fedayeen al-Islam" (Soldiers of Islam) issued a new warning on Wednesday threatening further attacks on any entity deemed supportive of the United States.

In an English language telephone message to reporters, the group said "all those who will facilitate Americans and NATO crusaders â?¦ will keep on receiving the blows."

CBS News research shows the group has claimed responsibility for at least one previous attack in Pakistan, but that claim was later debunked by a more credible claim by al Qaeda.

Neither the veracity of the group's claim over the Marriott attack, nor its threat made Wednesday could be confirmed by CBS News. No further claims of responsibility had surfaced on the Internet or in other media Thursday.

Bomb Threat Puts Pakistan On "Red Alert", Heightened Security Put In Place At All Airports After New Intel From Apparent Interrogation - CBS News