FBI questions validity of threat on resorts, airport

LAS VEGAS - The FBI has alerted McCarran International Airport and resorts on the Las Vegas Strip after a letter was received warning they were possible terrorist targets.

FBI Special Agent Valerie Parlave questioned whether the threat was authentic.

"I talked to our terrorism specialist and he's not taking it as seriously as he would if they were more specific," Parlave said Friday. "There were no specific times, no specific properties listed. Also, it was not a terrorist group known to the FBI."

The letter read:

"The Islamic Jihad on America.

War!

Between now and Comdex

Six Strip resorts will be hit hard.

McCarran too.

All work performed by 'paid Americans'

United, in the Islamic cause."

The six Strip hotels were not identified. Comdex is a major computer trade show held each November.

The letter was mailed to KLVX Channel 10, the city's Public Broadcasting Service station.

"We obviously can't totally discount it," Parlave said of the letter. "That's why we've notified the Strip properties. But we're not taking it as seriously as we might if it were a known group or they were more specific in their threats."

"We take all threats seriously, then assign a threat level," said Capt. Ray Flynn of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. "The threat level on this is low. It could be leaning toward a hoax. No one has ever heard of this group, either locally or through our national security interests.

"If it is a hoax, we hope to prove it," Flynn said Friday. "But in light of what's happening around the world, we think people need to increase their awareness."

Jenn Michaels, a spokesman for Mirage Resorts Inc., said employees are routinely instructed to alert security to any suspicious packages or circumstances.

Randy Walker, Clark County aviation director, said McCarran has been in a "heightened security mode the past couple of years." The FAA asked the airport to "revisit all our security procedures" after the recent terrorist bombings in Africa, he said.

Walker said the letter prompted McCarran officials to again remind their security staff to be more vigilant.

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