New York:
American authorities have arrested two teams of men at
New York airports, said to be armed with knives and carrying
fake identification papers.
In foiling what they feared was a second wave of attacks
on Friday, authorities said they took into custody four
men and a woman at John F Kennedy International Airport,
and five men at La Guardia International Airport. The
airports were then shut. ABC news quoted sources as saying
the men were carrying knives with plastic handles, along
with bags identifying them as flight crews.
Several of those detained on Thursday showed up at the
airport with tickets for flights cancelled on Tuesday
and tried to use them, officials said.
The Washington Post reports that the men were also
said to carrying certificates from a flight training school
in Florida, which investigators say was attended by some
members of the previous hijacking teams.
The American Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution
on Friday authorising President George W Bush to use force
against those responsible for Tuesday''s terrorist attacks,
the same day it unanimously approved a $40 billion emergency
spending package.
After leading the United States in a day of remembrance,
Bush will spend the weekend consulting with top advisers
as preparations continue for a US response to the attacks.
Bush is scheduled to meet with his national security team
this weekend at Camp David to discuss military options
for possible retaliation for the orchestrated attacks.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has agreed to the full list of US
demands for a possible attack on Afghanistan''s Taliban
rulers who shelter suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden,
Pakistani military and diplomatic sources told AP on Saturday.
President Pervez Musharraf conveyed Pakistans agreement
in a meeting on Friday with US Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin.
This includes a US request to base a multinational force
in Pakistan.
But the Taliban on Saturday threatened Pakistan with a
"massive attack" if it helped the United States
launch military strikes on Afghanistan in retaliation
for this week''s terrorist atrocities. The Islamic militia
said it would regard such cooperation as an act of war
as Pakistan contemplated a US request to allow its territory
to be used as a launching pad for any US attack.
Amidst reports of US marines landing in Pakistan for surveillance
against the Taliban and the terrorist mastermind Osama
bin Laden, the international airlines stopped using Pak-Afghan
air corridor and the country''s airport was put on high
alert.
The Nation on Saturday reported that a special
plane carrying over two dozen foreigners landed at the
Chakala Airbase in the wee hours on Friday. The News
quoted an eyewitness as saying that he had seen a small
contingent of US troops having already landed in Islamabad.
It said, according to unofficial reports, a contingent
of over 50 personnel from the Special Services Group of
the US Marines ''Green Seals'' have landed for conducting
''target oriented'' operations against bin Laden, the prime
suspect in the terrorist strikes in the US.
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