Global Biz
US terror warning could hurt Europe's economy
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-10-04 07:56
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MADRID — A rare advisory for US travelers to beware of potential terrorist threats in Europe drew American shrugs Sunday from Paris to Rome, but tourism officials worried that it could deter would-be visitors from moving ahead with plans to cross the Atlantic.
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But the US-based Air Transport Association, a trade group for the airline industry, said it expects "business as usual."
United, Continental and Delta said they were operating as usual on Sunday without any cancellations or delays related to the terror alert. The airlines said customers will be charged the usual penalty if they want to change itineraries.
Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, said business travelers will likely keep their plans and hold onto nonrefundable tickets as long as the warning remains "fairly general."
In Paris, Texan tourist Frederico Reimers was afraid his flight back home might be canceled, but said the scene at the airport showed "everything is running pretty good."
The US advisory itself might be "a little bit exaggerated, but, oh well, what can you do," Reimers said.
US and European security experts have been concerned for days about a terror attack similar to the one in Mumbai, which left 166 people dead and targeted two luxury hotels, a Jewish his," he was quoted as saying in the daily Le Parisien.
A French official said Sunday that Italian police had arrested a Frenchman suspected of links to a network recruiting fighters for Afghanistan. The man was arrested in Naples in southern Italy in early September, based on a French probe underway for several months into alleged involvement in a terrorist enterprise, the official said. The official was not authorized to be publicly named because terrorism cases are classified.
The US notice said terrorists "may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests" and noted past attacks against subways, rail systems and aviation and maritime services.
"US citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and to adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling," according to the alert.
The alert wasn't intended to urge travelers to stay away from public places. It fell short of a formal travel warning, which could have had broader implications including a stronger likelihood of canceled airline and hotel bookings and the suspension of many US college and university study-abroad programs.
Despite concerns that the alert could cause a European travel slump, there was no strong opposition it from European leaders, who privately have been advised of the impending action, a European official said.
Marietta Rough, a British tour guide in Berlin, said being concerned about terrorism while traveling has simply become something everyone has to live with.
"It shouldn't affect your daily life, and I certainly don't feel like it is here in Berlin," she said.
US intelligence officials believe Osama bin Laden is behind the plan to attack several European cities. If true, this would be the most operational role that bin Laden has played in plotting attacks since September 11, 2001.
Eight Germans and two British brothers are at the heart of an al-Qaida-linked terror plot against European cities, but the plan is still in its early stages, with the suspects calling acquaintances in Europe to plan logistics, a Pakistani intelligence official said last week. One of the Britons died in a recent CIA missile strike, he said.
The Pakistani official said the suspects are hiding in North Waziristan, a Pakistani tribal region where militancy is rife and where the US has focused many of its drone-fired missile strikes.