By Deb Riechmann
The Associated Press
Related: London police foil major terror plot
KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Some U.S. airports will tighten security in response to possible terrorist incidents in Britain, the White House said Saturday.
The U.S., however, is not raising its terror alert status, President Bush’s spokesman said. “There is no indication of any specific or credible threat to the United States ... no change in the overall security level,” Tony Snow told reporters in Maine.
The Transportation Security Administration has taken steps to raise alertness at some airports, Snow said. More TSA agents will be posted outside some terminals, he said.
“There will be some inconvenience of passengers in terms of longer wait times,” Snow said. Local police also may take separate measures, he added.
“The most you’re going to see right now is some inconvenience ... some increased inconvenience of airline passengers, more likely at large airports than small,” Snow said.
In New York, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the NYPD was paying close attention to the events in Britain and was working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages the city’s airports.
“We are maintaining the additional safeguards that were put in place yesterday as an ongoing precaution against attacks here. We are also working closely with the Port Authority in matters related to airport security,” he said Saturday.
Bush, who spent the day biking and fishing, was kept abreast of the developments in Britain, Snow said. U.S. officials were in contact with their counterparts in Europe, the spokesman said.
Two men rammed a flaming sport utility vehicle into the main terminal of the airport in Glasgow, Scotland, crashing into the glass doors at the entrance and causing a fire, witnesses said. Police said two suspects were arrested.
The airport — Scotland’s largest — was evacuated and all flights suspended.
On Friday, British police thwarted a plot to bomb central London, discovering two cars abandoned with loads of gasoline, gas canisters and nails. Detectives said they were keeping an open mind about the suspects in the London case.
Bush was in Maine to host Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bush family’s summer home on the coast. Putin was to arrive Sunday for a two-day stay.