Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 22, 1995 TAG: 9504240060
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
The plot was thwarted when authorities at Los Angeles International Airport apprehended two Japanese travelers a few days before Easter with information in their possession about how to make a highly toxic nerve gas, The Baltimore Sun has learned.
The two were said to be members of the Japanese cult that released the same type of poison gas - sarin - into the Tokyo subway system last month, killing 12 people and sickening thousands of others, the officials added.
Without divulging specifics of the incident, President Clinton referred to it Friday at a news conference after suspects were taken into custody in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing.
``There was one recent incident with which I was intimately familiar, which involved a quick and secret deployment of a major United States effort of FBI and FEMA and Public Health Service and Army personnel because we had a tip of a possible terrorist incident which, thank goodness, did not materialize, but we went to the place and we were ready, we were ready to try to prevent it, and if it occurred, we were ready to respond,'' Clinton said.
The president cited the incident as an example of the sort of counterterrorist activity by the federal government that ``the public does not see, most of which I should not comment on.''
Sources said the attack apparently was planned for Easter weekend, when the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, Calif., puts on special attractions, swelling attendance at the park.
by CNB