http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991228/ts/millennium_security_5.html

Tuesday December 28 6:30 PM ET

Seattle Mayor Cites Terror Fears in Canceling Gala By Deeann Glamser

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle canceled its New Year's Eve party on Tuesday amid fears of an extremist plot to target the outdoor millennium celebration that was expected to draw 50,000 people.

Mayor Paul Schell, calling the decision a ``tough task,'' said that while there was no specific threat against the city, the FBI could not guarantee there was no risk.

``We are comfortable that Seattle is not a target. That is the advice we have received from the FBI. (But) they can't at the same time assure us that there is no risk,'' Schell told a news conference.

The decision to cancel the gala event based around the city's famed Space Needle tower came two weeks after Algerian-born Ahmed Ressam was arrested near Seattle for allegedly attempting to smuggle bomb-making materials into the United States from Canada.

Schell said Ressam's arrest ``heightened'' safety concerns among officials already worried about having such a large gathering in Seattle less than a month after violent protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting here.

About 50,000 people were expected to gather near the Space Needle to watch a fireworks display. Officials said the fireworks will go ahead but the public would be barred from around the site located near the city's downtown in the 74-acre (30 hectare) Seattle Center complex. It was constructed for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and has become a symbol of the city.

``At a time that the city is just recovering from the WTO and the heightened anxieties ... adding another layer of uncertainty was not the prudent thing to do,'' Schell told reporters.

Questions Raised By Arrest

Questions about the safety of Seattle's event were raised after Ressam's arrest on Dec. 14, when it was discovered the Algerian national was scheduled to stay that night at a motel not far from the Space Needle.

Authorities said Ressam was also carrying airplane tickets for him to leave Dec. 15 for New York and London, leading to speculation he intended to deliver the explosive material to someone else in the Seattle area.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is seeking a man believed to have stayed with Ressam in Vancouver prior to Ressam's entering the United States. The man's whereabouts are unknown.

Two people were also detained this month in Vermont for allegedly attempting to enter the United States with illegal documents, and driving a car that bomb-sniffing dogs indicated had once carried explosives.

A RCMP spokeswoman said on Tuesday there was ``nothing new'' on its investigation of Ressam or his alleged accomplice. An official with the FBI office in Seattle did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the city's action.

U.S. authorities have said they have no specific information of a plot in the United States, but have issued general warnings for people to be more cautious as the New Year approaches.

Seattle Only Major Cancellation

Seattle was one of many large U.S. cities planning public New Year's celebrations, but the first to cancel its event amid fears in recent days that extremists are planning to mark the event with bombs.

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said his city's famed New Year's Eve celebrations would go on as planned in Times Square because it would be impossible to cancel them. ``People would show up anyway,'' Giuliani told ABC.

The decision to cancel the Seattle event marked an abrupt turnaround for city officials, who had beefed up security at the event after Ressam's arrest but vowed that it would go on as scheduled.

Seattle officials denied they had handed a symbolic victory for any potential extremist by canceling the event, which had been widely publicized. ``There are no terrorists to give in to. What we are saying (is) it's better to err on the side of public safety,'' said Virginia Anderson, director of Seattle Center.

The city's decision drew a mixed reaction on the streets of downtown Seattle. ``I think it is a good idea with all the terrorists around. They could bomb anywhere,'' said Laurin Daniels, 14.

Michael Medlin, 30, visiting from San Francisco, said it was ``kind of extreme'' to cancel the event. ``I think it is unlikely that anything would happen in Seattle since they already caught somebody here, but it seems like someone will do something, somewhere,'' Medlin added.

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 28, 1999