9 j1 j+ ~" T! J 目前，从美国首都华盛顿到西岸最大城市洛杉矶的机场内，到处可见持枪警察和巡逻的执勤人员。在机场候机大楼，不时有手持M-16自动步枪的美国士兵走来走去执勤，他们全副武装，手指片刻不离扳机。不少美国人说，他们再次感受到自“9·11”以来少有的紧张气息。 d7 \ m# e' ]9 R) G9 h. n- j0 I9 E
在这次预防恐怖袭击中，美国安全部门将国内机场的警戒水平提得比国际机场还要高，最主要的原因是，7月4日美国国庆日就要来临，届时全美国将有数以百万计的人乘飞机出行度假，国内机场承担了大部分运输任务。4 p1 Y1 p. y% ]: u
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In this file photo, an airport employee checks a passenger's boarding passes as he enters a security checkpoint in terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, November 22, 2006. The United States boosted security at airports following what British police called a terrorist attack at Glasgow airport and car bombs found in London, but left the U.S. threat level unchanged. % b9 l" P" { q$ } Z
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U.S. tightens airport and transit security% e! r( e1 `! t8 V( b: d
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The Associated PressPublished: July 1, 2007' O( p" K% g9 |, ]+ d$ k
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KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine: U.S. airports and mass transit systems were tightening security in response to the terrorist incidents in Britain, the Bush administration said. . x4 s% }; K/ V& q# N/ E/ `" P4 L7 z) T: u d: f* N' }0 }5 e* F
The United States, however, is not raising its terror alert status, President George W. Bush's spokesman and the homeland security secretary said Saturday. "There is no indication of any specific or credible threat to the United States - no change in the overall security level," the spokesman, Tony Snow, told reporters in Maine. 2 V) x. [; f1 v! {* s* Y9 ? m5 Z 3 ?' s% b1 d# m* k HBritain raised its security alert to the highest level possible, an indication that terrorist attacks are imminent.* Y" q% O1 N! u$ W! q
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Snow said that the British government had notified the White House in advance and that the move did not provoke any change in the threat assessment in the United States. "We constantly monitor and assess the situation, and adjust our posture as necessary," Snow said. 9 b+ y, ^9 e* \( [! U: A; A% {% e3 j' ~! p7 t6 }$ Z* `* p. `0 p
Still, U.S. officials were wary. Acting out of "an abundance of caution" ahead of the U.S. Independence Day holiday on July 4, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the government was putting in place plans to increase security at airports, on mass transit and at transportation facilities.$ d$ W. r3 u: |4 ~% ]0 m
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"Some of these measures will be visible; others will not," he said in a statement. "We have no plans at this time to change the national threat level, although we remind everyone that the aviation threat level has been raised to orange since last fall."0 D1 O/ } y; V/ y" D
" L3 \3 J @2 [Orange is the second highest of five levels on the U.S. terror alert chart and indicates a high risk of terrorist attacks. The current national threat level is yellow, or the third highest, indicating an elevated threat. % e, |. X" |1 ?; C8 W * G$ b$ e q* G2 o7 a1 q9 f1 XThe Transportation Security Administration is posting more agents outside terminals at some airports, Snow said. z4 t) q) P. A1 j! T / H$ G B: ]& o; f"There will be some inconvenience of passengers in terms of longer wait times," Snow said. The local police also may take separate measures, he added.$ X2 Z7 a/ j3 I" J, a, [4 p2 e
5 X" n8 Q4 ?& qThe police stepped up curbside patrols with canine units at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark Liberty in New Jersey and John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York, took "a number of measures as we always do to respond to security situations immediately," a spokesman, Steve Coleman, said.& Z% \: k; h# ]# k! P
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At Reagan National and Dulles International airports, a spokesman for the Washington airport authority, Ron Yingling, said some measures are behind the scenes. "I don't think there's anything different in what passengers have to physically do to get through security that's different from yesterday." . ^8 `! \6 M' T+ @( W 9 n- k/ @6 b% w: SAn FBI spokesman, Richard Kolko, said the bureau stood ready to help the British authorities. 0 O" O6 e8 p" l5 p + x5 \' [/ q- H1 DAustralia's government heightened its travel warning for Britain on Sunday, The Associated Press reported from Canberra. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade upgraded its danger warning one level, to three, on a scale of five.2 D0 V/ [# u) c5 x! h
& O9 Z- i% V: u, Q" lAustralians traveling to Britain are urged to exercise a "high degree of caution," the department's Web site said., N9 X2 ?3 p- {; K2 I8 F5 T9 z
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The upgrade puts security warnings for Britain on par with Iran, Guatemala, Jordan, Rwanda and Uzbekistan. : p6 s$ a4 j; r+ N % }) l6 ?) _5 q6 r+ O9 `1 e9 G5 N. lPrime Minister John Howard, who will preside over a meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders in Sydney in September, said the British security alert did not affect Australia's own terrorist threat level.& h) ^$ ~$ j) L' X0 s. F) `0 ~ Y# A
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0 u5 I* i3 H' c; O7 j, P: | p . _; j& u6 w' _+ ~( w- B9 ?5 W) xThe police checked drivers into Kennedy Airport Sunday after a blazing car smashed into Glasgow Airport in a failed bombing.
