December 16, 1999
Web posted at: 10:46 p.m. EST (0346 GMT)

In this story: Guide to suspects Weapons of mass destruction Some alleged terrorists arrested RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- While an expected 1.5 million people watch the ball drop in New York's Time Square and tens of thousands of other New Year's revelers join President Clinton for a concert on the Mall in Washington, law enforcement officers will be soberly keeping their eyes peeled for potential threats of terrorism during the millennium change.

"The big events occurring in Washington, the big events occurring in other cities -- London, New York, Paris -- could be magnets for somebody trying to act out," said Jerry Hauer, director of New York's Office of Emergency Management.

In the nation's capital, the FBI's Jim Rice is helping oversee security during New Year's celebrations.

"Whether it's bomb squads, hostage negotiation teams, civil disturbance units, emergency medical service units, fire departments -- you name it and it's going to be on standby or staged for an event like this," said Rice, a supervisory special agent on the D.C. Domestic Terrorism Task Force.

While not pointing to any specific domestic threats, officials say there is reason for concern. An event that much of the world is focused on could serve as motivation for a wide variety of groups.

The FBI provided law enforcement agencies around the nation a guide in November, warning them that dangerous groups or individuals might be concentrating on millennium events.

Among the suspects, are apocalyptic cults, white or black supremacists and radicals in the militia movement.

Individuals associated with such groups or philosophies are gathering "weapons, storing food, procuring safe houses and surveying potential targets," the FBI warned.

Meanwhile, a commission of military, emergency planning, medical response and intelligence experts has concluded that the possible use of weapons of mass destruction represents "a genuine threat to the United States."

The 18-member panel delivered its first annual report to the White House and Capitol Hill with a warning that "the restraint on terrorist use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear devices may be disappearing."

The report identifies "the most likely terrorist groups" to use weapons of mass destruction as "fundamentalist or apocalyptic religious organizations, cults and extreme single-issue groups." The panel added that that those groups are most likely to resort to smaller scale attacks to achieve their goals.

The commission, headed by Virginia Gov. James Gilmore, also offered the bleak view that government agencies may be incapable of responding effectively to serious terrorist attacks because of inadequate communication and coordination, notably between federal, state and local officials.

Last week in Florida, a militiaman was charged with planning to attack power plants. His alleged goal was to cause a blackout paralyzing central Florida and Atlanta.

And two militia members arrested in California in early December were allegedly plotting to blow up a propane storage facility.

Unless they get a tip, FBI officials say lone wolves such as those suspects are virtually impossible to target.

And potential glitches from the Y2K bug -- the possibility that some computers could view the year 2000 as 1900, generating errors or system crashes -- could add to the law enforcement challenge.

FBI officials say some radicals may regard any New Year's power outages as evidence of a U.N. takeover -- part of the so-called New World Order conspiracy theory.

But FBI officials don't want the public overly concerned. Next week, they're planning a press conference in an attempt to allay fears.

"The American people should never feel scared to go out to visit events that are their heritage, and that's exactly why law enforcement takes such a strong preparatory stance for these events," said Rice.

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