FBI hunt men with nuclear link

As a week of terrorist alerts unfolds, the FBI is mounting a nationwide hunt for six men in possession of photographs and descriptions of a nuclear power plant in Florida and the trans-Alaska pipeline, a senior US official is quoted as saying today.

The men were stopped by police in the Mid-West several days ago but let go. This was one reason for the warning issued by the Justice Department of a "big event" by terrorists in the US in the next few days. Adding to the alarm is the fact that the men were carrying box cutters and razor sharp blades on plastic handles similar to those used by the suicide attackers on 11 September.

After deciding that the men's Israeli passports were in order, the Immigration Service decided that they were legally in the US, Knight-Ridder newspapers reported today. Investigators believe the men have fled to Canada. A US official said the FBI and the Justice Department are "furious" that the men were let go. The Civil Aviation Administration has imposed flight restrictions around every nuclear plant in the country.

The White House said the alert issued on Monday evening was based on a message sent the previous night by an Osama bin Laden adherent in Canada to Afghanistan. The message referred to an event scheduled to take place "down South".