August 6, 2002	Tuesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26,1423

NEW YORK: An accidental chemical explosion shakes a Manhattan college, street manhole covers pop near the Empire State Building, a power plant fire billows plumes of black smoke.

Before September 11, New Yorkers took such events in their stride. But since hijacked planes toppled the twin 110-storey World Trade Center towers, the jittery city appears to relive the terrifying spectre of the attack or anticipate another one in every moment of relatively minor distress.

New York’s residents go about their daily business amid unprecedented levels of security consciousness.

And so they should, according to security officials who have plotted out counter-terrorism programmes.

The city is still on a higher state of alert for terrorism than any other in the country, almost 11 months after the twin towers attacks that killed more than 2,800 civilians and rescuers.

The explosion, fire and manhole cover incidents were among the many accidents that regularly occur in the busy, crowded city, but after each one, residents told reporters they initially feared New York was under attack again.

Since September 11, law enforcement officers are being trained to hone their vigilance and develop other skills to prevent another attack on the largest city in the United States with eight million residents.

BETTER PREPARED: Kallstrom, appointed New York state’s senior policy advisor on counter-terrorism in October, gathered local law enforcement officials and private security executives to “get into the minds of terrorists” and be better prepared for the next attack he believes is inevitable.

Officials from cities that have also suffered attacks by militants, as far apart as Oklahoma City and London, addressed law enforcement officers from all over New York state.

A White House official told the delegates that the United States was better prepared to prevent attacks, thanks to the lessons learned from the failure of agencies to share critical information before the simultaneous hijacked plane strikes on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

“There is no question in my mind, nor should there be in yours, that we are a stronger and safer nation than we were on Sept 11,” said Mark Holman, deputy assistant to President George W. Bush for the new Office of Homeland Security.

“While we are stronger and safer we are still at risk and we’re going to be at risk,” said Holman.

TUNNEL THREAT: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority security director Louis Anemone asked Holman about preventing attacks on the city’s massive and intricate transport system. Many of the new security measures in New York and elsewhere have focused on airports.

The MTA network serves a population of 14.4 million people in New York and its northern and eastern suburbs. Millions more use trains, tunnels and bridges to and from New Jersey suburbs to the west.

The Straphanger’s Campaign, which looks out for commuters’ interests, said the number of threats called in since the weeks and months after September 11 had declined sharply and in general, subway riders indicated they felt safe.

In response to September 11, the state offers law enforcement officers “counter-terrorism awareness courses.” They include an examination of a manual compiled by the Al Qaeda network led by Osama bin Laden, blamed by the United States for the attacks.

One of the courses examines tactics used by Palestinian suicide bombers against Israel because experts fear a suicide bomber may strike soon in the United States. It discusses what precautions officers need to take when dealing with improvised explosive devices.

—Reuters