Iraq has “credible” intelligence that Islamic State (IS) extremists plan to attack subway systems in Paris and the US, the prime minister said on Thursday, but US and French officials said they had no evidence to back up his claims.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s comments were met with surprise by security, intelligence and transit officials in both countries. New York’s leaders scrambled to ride the subway to reassure the public that the nation’s largest city was safe.
Al-Abadi said he received the information on Thursday morning from suspected extremists captured in Iraq and concluded that it was credible after requesting further details. The attacks were plotted from inside Iraq by “networks” of the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, he said.
Photo: Reuters
“They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the US,” al-Abadi told a small group of US reporters while in New York City for the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly. “I asked for more credible information. I asked for names. I asked for details, for cities, you know, dates. And from the details I have received, yes, it looks credible.”
Some Iraqi officials in Baghdad questioned al-Abadi’s comments. One high-level Iraqi government official told reporters it appeared to be based on “ancient intelligence.” Another called it “an old story.” Both spoke on condition of anonymity.
Al-Abadi did not provide further details. A senior Iraqi official traveling with him later said Iraqi intelligence had uncovered “serious threats” and had shared this information with its allies’ intelligence agencies.
“A full assessment of the veracity of the intelligence and how far the plans have gone into implementation is ongoing,” the official said.
Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to US President Barack Obama, said that the US had “not confirmed any specific threat.”
“What we’ve consistently said to the Iraqis is if they have information that is relevant to terrorist activity or terrorist plotting, that they can and should share that through our intelligence and law enforcement channels,” Rhodes told reporters traveling with Obama from New York.
“We would certainly take seriously any information they are learning,” he said.
French security services also said they had no information confirming al-Abadi’s statement, a French government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other local officials suggested they were unfazed, updating their public schedules on Thursday to add trips on the city’s subway system to reassure millions of daily commuters.
“We are convinced [that] New Yorkers are safe,” De Blasio said at a press conference at a Manhattan subway station as he stood alongside New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and FBI assistant director George Venizelos.
Joseph Sheehan, 44, from the city’s Queens borough, learned about the threats from the Web. “They were checking bags earlier at the Port Authority. Seems like they do that at times of heightened alerts,” he said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was