FBI urges police to watch for people with almanacs

2003-12-30 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Amid heightened indications that al Qaeda operatives may be planning catastrophic attacks in the United States, the FBI is warning police about a new potential tool for terrorism: almanacs.

An FBI intelligence bulletin sent to law enforcement agencies last week warned that "terrorist operatives may rely on almanacs to assist with target selection and pre-operational planning" because they include detailed information on bridges, tunnels and other U.S. landmarks, officials said.

Although noting that "the use of almanacs or maps may be the product of legitimate recreational or commercial activities," the bulletin urged police to watch for suspects carrying almanacs, especially if the books include suspicious notations or marks, because "the practice of researching potential targets is consistent with known methods of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations."

The warning came as a surprise to purveyors of almanacs, which range from statistical tomes listing the tallest buildings and the longest bridges to folksy journals including planetary charts and apple pie recipes.

"Our almanac is about as far away as you can get from terrorism and about as close as you can get to what you would think of as Americana," said Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmers' Almanac, a 185-year-old compendium of weather predictions, cleaning tips and other advice.

The bulletin also prompted objections from civil liberties advocates, who argued that the warning appears to encourage police to arrest or interrogate people based on their reading habits.

"Founding father Benjamin Franklin probably never imagined that the almanac he created would be the subject of an FBI terrorism bulletin," said Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Franklin certainly foresaw the danger of government overreaching during a time of crisis. We hope that both the almanac and the Constitution will survive intact. "

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said the bulletin "is criminalizing the use of the most basic reference resources, which people have a legitimate reason to have. . . . This is the kind of thing that leads to profiling."

The almanac alert was part of the FBI's regular Intelligence Bulletin distributed weekly to law enforcement agencies nationwide. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the bulletin has often included general warnings and information related to terrorism. The bureau has been criticized at times for its choice of topics, including a recent bulletin outlining the possible dangers posed by violent antiwar protesters.

FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell said the bulletin was meant to provide general information to local police and was not the result of a specific threat. It does not refer to any specific cases involving almanacs. But during a search of the apartment of alleged al Qaeda sleeper agent Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, investigators have said they found an almanac with bookmarked pages on major U. S. dams, rivers, reservoirs and railroads.