BOSTON, March 26 (UPI) -- The FBI has denied allegations by former White House adviser Richard Clarke that al-Qaida was placing operatives in Boston via tankers from Algeria.
Clarke, in his book "Against All Enemies," wrote that the FBI learned in December 1999 that terror suspects entered the United States on tankers carrying liquefied natural gas to Boston Harbor. He charged local officials should have been informed of the threat.
"We didn't brief the mayor (of Boston) that there was an al-Qaida cell here because there wasn't one," FBI Special Agent Kenneth Kaiser told the Boston Globe.
Kaiser said the possible threat from LNG tankers was investigated and no link with suspected terrorists entering the country by that method was found. He said the task force that looked into the possibility included local and state police, the Globe reported Friday.
The FBI agent told the newspaper that Clarke's allegations were based on "incomplete information" because the White House adviser had been told of the investigation before it was complete.
