Approved For Release 2003/01/17
<R)
CIA-RDR96-00t89RO039002&00d4-8
O N
:
W O RID
TRADE
CENTER
EXPLOSION
e videotape is missing
Vuthorities
ite threats
jefore blast
/ Bruce Frankel
SA TODAY
NEW YORK — Investigators
lesday said they are puzzled
er the disappearance of a vid-
<tape that may have recorded
hides
in
the World Trade
inter garage before it explod-
i Friday.
And authorities revealed the
S. Embassy
in
Algeria
re-
ived two
threats from
the
>pular Front for the Libera-
oof Palestine that
it would
aw up a building in New York
late January.
Police Commissioner Ray-
ond Kelly said authorities be-
ved the
threat had
passed
len the second deadline —
a 26, requiring Israel to al-
v 400 expelled Palestinians to
turn — passed uneventfully.
Meanwhile, New York
City
d the Port Authority offered
5200,000 reward for informa-
n leading to the arrest and
nviction of those responsible
rthe bombing.
Authorities cautioned against
airing too much of the missing
ieotape: “You could call it pe-
By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY
ANOTHER SCARE: A port authority employee tells workers at a reopened part of the World Trade
Center complex Tuesday to leave after a bomb threat. Workers later returned to the complex.
culiar,” said James Fox, head of
the FBI’s bureau in New York.
“Incredible, isn’t it?”
Videotapes were
recovered
on Monday for the period from
Wednesday morning to Thurs-
day morning, and from Friday
morning to Saturday moring.
Missing:
a sequence
video-
tape for the period from Thurs-
day at 8 a.m. to Friday at 8 a.m,
of the B-2 garage level — the
“seat” of the massive explosion.
A Port Authority employee
has
told
investigators he may
have misplaced
it, Fox said.
It
may still be buried.
Two
garage
videotapes
al-
ready reviewed were of mar-
ginal quality, though subject to
enhancement, Fox said.
Asked what he would tell the
employee, Fox said, “Let’s try
to ffnd
it!
.
. . Now!”
While acknowledging pieces
of brown metal from a vehicle
had been recovered, authorities
said there is “no reason to raise
speculation” that a brown van
with a stripe may have held the
bomb, as reported on CNN.
Investigators
say
they
are
looking at several terrorist
groups, including the extremist
Hamas
which
is
opposed
to
Middle East peace talks.
The
investigation
is spread-
ing as license plates are tracked
from
Michigan,
Illinois, New
Hampshire and elsewhere.
|
Seeking to dampen expecta-
tions of a quick resolution, Fox!
said, “No new dramatic witness;
is going to solve this case for us.-
Also on Tuesday:
!
Investigators pulled about
10 cars from the garage and be-
gan vacuuming them inside and;
outside and scraping their urn
dercarriages.
If nothing
perti-!
nent is found, the cars will be;
returned to their owners.
!
Bomb experts said the ex-!
plosion took place on the
B-2'
level below the Vista Hotel
in!
the public parking area.
The New York City Comp-
troller’s
office
estimated
the!
bombing could cost about $700,
million in lost business during
the first week after the blast
For the second day
in a
row, a retaining wall collapsed
near the crater — described as;
200 feet in diameter, extending
through seven stories. The col-
umns previously were support-
ed by the horizontal flooring.
"It is in a dangerous position
now,” said Walter Boser, head
of the police bomb squad.
A part of the complex that
had reopened was evacuated
because of a bomb threat For
minutes,
authorities
searched the train station be-
neath the center while
fright-,
ened workers left the area. A
suspicious package
later was
found to contain building mat:
rials.
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