New York: American authorities have arrested two teams of men at New York airports, said to be armed with knives and carrying fake identification papers.
In foiling what they feared was a second wave of attacks on Friday, authorities said they took into custody four men and a woman at John F Kennedy International Airport, and five men at La Guardia International Airport. The airports were then shut. ABC news quoted sources as saying the men were carrying knives with plastic handles, along with bags identifying them as flight crews.
Several of those detained on Thursday showed up at the airport with tickets for flights cancelled on Tuesday and tried to use them, officials said.
The Washington Post reports that the men were also said to carrying certificates from a flight training school in Florida, which investigators say was attended by some members of the previous hijacking teams.
The American Congress overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Friday authorising President George W Bush to use force against those responsible for Tuesday''s terrorist attacks, the same day it unanimously approved a $40 billion emergency spending package.
After leading the United States in a day of remembrance, Bush will spend the weekend consulting with top advisers as preparations continue for a US response to the attacks. Bush is scheduled to meet with his national security team this weekend at Camp David to discuss military options for possible retaliation for the orchestrated attacks.
Pakistan, meanwhile, has agreed to the full list of US demands for a possible attack on Afghanistan''s Taliban rulers who shelter suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden, Pakistani military and diplomatic sources told AP on Saturday. President Pervez Musharraf conveyed Pakistans agreement in a meeting on Friday with US Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin. This includes a US request to base a multinational force in Pakistan.
But the Taliban on Saturday threatened Pakistan with a "massive attack" if it helped the United States launch military strikes on Afghanistan in retaliation for this week''s terrorist atrocities. The Islamic militia said it would regard such cooperation as an act of war as Pakistan contemplated a US request to allow its territory to be used as a launching pad for any US attack.
Amidst reports of US marines landing in Pakistan for surveillance against the Taliban and the terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, the international airlines stopped using Pak-Afghan air corridor and the country''s airport was put on high alert.
The Nation on Saturday reported that a special plane carrying over two dozen foreigners landed at the Chakala Airbase in the wee hours on Friday. The News quoted an eyewitness as saying that he had seen a small contingent of US troops having already landed in Islamabad.
It said, according to unofficial reports, a contingent of over 50 personnel from the Special Services Group of the US Marines ''Green Seals'' have landed for conducting ''target oriented'' operations against bin Laden, the prime suspect in the terrorist strikes in the US.