|
| US TERROR ALERT A 'HOAX' |
 | An al Qaeda informant whose 'dirty bomb'
warning put America on 'orange alert' has failed a lie test,
it has been reported.
It means the alarm, which saw Americans being urged to put
together survival kits, could have been a hoax.
The man, a captured al Qaeda soldier, is reported to have
told US officials that terrorists had found a way of smuggling
radioactive material through airports without being
detected.
'Not true'
It raised fears that the US was about to be hit by a dirty
bomb attack - a device in which radioactive material is
wrapped around conventional explosives.
However, officials have told America's ABC News that the
informant has since failed a polygraph test.
"This piece of that puzzle turns out to be fabricated and
therefore the reason for a lot of the alarm, particularly in
Washington this week, has been dissipated after they found out
that this information was not true," Vince Cannistraro, former
CIA counter-terrorism chief, told the news network.
The informant had told officials that a cell operating in
Virginia or Detroit was planning to smuggle dirty bombs
through airports hidden in shoes, suitcases or laptops.
Alarm
A warning followed and Americans were told to tape up their
windows and pack enough food and water to last three days.
Police have been patrolling key sites with radiation
detectors.
Despite claims of a hoax, officials told the network the
level of alert would remain on orange.
It is not the first time America has been fooled had by an
informant.
Over Christmas officials were told to be on the lookout for
five men suspected of plotting an attack.
The informant later admitted he had made up the
information. | 
