NEW YORK, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- The informant who set off a terrorism alert in New York City may have been fabricating information in hopes of a reward.
City officials said Tuesday that the Defense Department had not been able to locate the man in Iraq, The Washington Post reported.
The city dropped much of the extra security imposed last week, including having a police officer on every subway train.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced last week that there was credible information of a planned al-Qaida attack on the subway system.
New Yorkers generally took the terror alert calmly, although observers said that buses were far more crowded than normal and trains somewhat emptier.
Some federal officials, including those with the Department of Homeland Security, questioned how real the plot was, although city officials said they would much rather risk frightening and inconveniencing New Yorkers than be caught unprepared for an attack.
