US to keep "code orange" security level in place for now: Ridge

WASHINGTON (AFP) Apr 09, 2003
The White House will keep an elevated "code orange" security level in place for now, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told a congressional committee Wednesday, saying that US military advances in Iraq do not yet translate to a diminished risk of terrorism at home.

On March 17, just days before the start of the US-led war in Iraq, Ridge increased the terrorism alert from yellow to orange -- the second highest level possible -- as part of an anti-terror initiative he dubbed "Liberty Shield."

Ridge told members of the Senate Commerce Committee that he was "confident" the alert will soon be downgraded, but that the time to do so has not yet arrived.

"I am confident sometime in the future we will reduce ... Liberty Shield and adjust the national threat, but not yet".

SPACE.WIRE