Washington police on alert for Y2K terrorists

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Washington police on alert for Y2K terrorists

Updated 7:03 PM ET December 20, 1999

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police here will be on heightened alert for terrorism on New Year's Eve in light of the arrest of an Algerian-born man caught with bomb components at the Canadian border, Washington's police chief said Monday.

Chief Charles Ramsey stressed, however, that "there is no reason to believe that Washington, D.C. has been targeted at this time."

Ramsey spoke to reporters at a briefing by D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams who announced that computers running traffic lights, emergency services and other critical city programs were 100 percent ready for the changeover to 2000.

The police chief said that the heightened alert ordered for Washington was similar to upgraded security at last April's three-day, 50th anniversary summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization here.

"We would be less than responsible if we didn't take certain precautions, especially in light of the fact that an individual was arrested in the U.S. with explosives," he said.

The United States has been tightening security along its borders since the arrest Dec. 14 of Ahmed Ressam, 32, accused of trying to enter the country from Canada with the ingredients for a powerful bomb. He is in custody in Seattle.

"Even if it hadn't been for Seattle, this is a period of time when we would be moving to a higher level of alert" given all the dignitaries in Washington for the New Year, Ramsey said.

Earlier Monday, the State Department said it was boosting security at U.S. diplomatic installations at home and abroad, and setting up evacuation teams to deal with any terrorism or other emergencies at the start of the year 2000, widely considered to be the beginning of the new millennium.

The department warned Dec. 11 that it had "credible information" that guerrillas were planning attacks on U.S. citizens overseas, notably at New Year's gatherings.

In the United States, the State Department has developed contingency plans to make sure that its 105 domestic facilities are "adequately protected" and can perform essential business during the date change.

Mayor Williams, meanwhile, said that of the city's 378 computer systems, 100 percent of those that run critical city services and 96 percent of all systems are ready for the New Year.

"We knew that we would run hard to the end," Williams said. "We have come farther, faster than any other major municipality in the country."

Washington D.C. -- declared on the edge of bankruptcy in 1995 -- only began debugging hundreds of computer systems that run everything from drinking water purification to 911 emergency services 18 months ago.

The Y2K bug prevents some computers from distinguishing 2000 from 1900 or another year because of old shortcuts that recorded the year with only two digits in key date "fields." Computers with the error could malfunction or shut down.

============================================== End

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

I heard on NPR today that they found documentation in the rented car proving that this was not it's first trip across the border. It was a stub, maybe border cross stub? I think it was from the day before he was caught? I was at work, so coulodn't pay full attention. Does anyone else have accurate info on this?

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 20, 1999.

I posted this before but I don't think anyone noticed - the Marines stationed in DC are under order to stay dressed in riot gear over the rollover. They are ready alright.

-- April (Alwzapril@home.com), December 21, 1999.

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