December 18, 1999 Peering Into Unknown, U.S. Agents Monitor Millennium Trouble Spots Around World By TIM WEINER ASHINGTON, Dec. 18 -- Without knowing where, when or whether something terrible might happen, United States government officials are trying to prepare for the threat of violence at the millennium, whether at home or abroad. United States customs agents are watching the borders for signs of trouble. They arrested an Algerian man in Port Angeles, Wash., fresh off a ferry from Victoria, British Columbia, on Tuesday night. His rented car contained the makings of "a large explosive device," a senior United States customs official said, and he had airline reservations for Wednesday night flights to New York and London. The Central Intelligence Agency, working with friendly foreign intelligence and law enforcement services to track terrorist organizations overseas, suspects the man, identified as Ahmed Ressam, has terrorist connections. This week, the State Department issued its fifth worldwide warning in the past four months to Americans abroad, saying "attacks could be planned for locations throughout the world where large gatherings and celebrations will be taking place." Federal law enforcement and intelligence officials say there was good reason for that alert. Though none will go on the record, or cite their evidence, the latest warning followed the arrests of at least 14 suspects in Jordan and Pakistan this week. The State Department and the C.I.A. have tied the Algerian arrested in Port Angeles and the group arrested in Jordan and Pakistan to what they describe as a global network commanded by Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire who lives in Afghanistan and is accused of being behind the bombings of two American embassies in Africa last year. The authorities in Jordan say the group -- 12 Jordanians, one Iraqi and an Algerian -- came from Afghanistan and may have been aiming at American targets in the Middle East. One of the Jordanians, identified as Khalil Deek, an exiled Palestinian who holds a United States passport, was arrested in Peshawar, Pakistan, near the border with Afghanistan, and is suspected to have personal ties to Mr. bin Laden. The F.B.I. is also on alert for threats from within. It says it foresees "an uprising in violent activities among certain domestic groups related to the millennium." The bureau anticipates "a moderate possibility of small factions of right-wing groups" banding together "in an overtly violent manner in order to initiate the apocalypse." In the past two weeks, F.B.I agents have arrested a militia leader in Florida on charges that he planned to blow up a nuclear power plant and black out Atlanta, and two militia members in California on charges that they plotted to bomb a power station and propane tanks holding 24 million gallons of fuel. "Our concern is really with fringe and apocalyptic groups," said Jeff Lanza, an F.B.I. special agent in Kansas City, Mo. "The turnover of the millennium is a big date for terrorists." From now until after the New Year's holiday, hundreds of F.B.I. agents will be monitoring cyberspace for warnings, like ancients searching the skies for a sign, looking out for electronic assaults by hackers and tracking political extremists by computer. Civilian and military officials across the country, worried about an organized attempt to take down government computers, are watching everything from reservoirs to the Federal Reserve. The government's counterterrorism coordinator, Richard A. Clarke of the National Security Council, repeatedly warns them that "cyberterrorists" could launch computer attacks "shutting down a city's electricity, shutting down 911 systems, shutting down telephone networks and transportation systems," as he said in a recent interview. And American intelligence and law enforcement officers in Israel and Italy are on the lookout for outbreaks of millennial fervor among the crowds gathering to mark the new year in Jerusalem and Vatican City. The F.B.I., in a recent report on millennial threats, said that pilgrims making their way to Jerusalem will include "apocalyptic cults on a mission to hasten the arrival of the Messiah." Israeli authorities have deported at least 34 Americans fitting that description this year. American officials do not know with certainty that any violence will materialize. Beyond the arrest in Port Angeles, they have few hard facts to support the fear of a major attack on emblems of American power. "We have no specific information concerning specific attacks," Attorney General Janet Reno said on Thursday. No one else in the government knows much more than that, said Senator Robert Bennett, a Republican of Utah and chairman of a Senate committee that has been investigating potential threats linked to the coming of the year 2000. "Nobody knows, because we've never lived through anything like this," he said in an interview. "There is no historic benchmark like a war or a hurricane or an earthquake. Everybody is guessing." The authorities say religious and sectarian celebrations of the millennium could be a target for extremists, including radical Islamic groups trying to subvert Middle East peace talks and a small number of American fundamentalists who believe that the Bible's prophecy of the apocalypse is about to come true. The F.B.I., in a study published last month, says extreme right-wing American groups, like the racist Christian Identity movement, see the Year 2000 computer fears as "the perfect event upon which to instigate a race war." Michael Vatis, an F.B.I. official, told Senator Bennett's committee that "the coming of the millennium requires Christian Identity adherents to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ by taking violent action against their enemies." Studies suggest that tens of millions of Americans believe that the Book of Revelation's prophecies of apocalypse will come true soon. "This belief is shared by probably 60 million Americans," said Richard Landes, director of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University and its on-line journal (www.mille.org). Many of them think the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was "the final major historical event" before that final battle, he said. A small band of American fundamentalists plans to be in Israel to witness this anticipated event in the days to come. The Israeli authorities already have deported members of an American millennial group called the Concerned Christians, citing evidence that the group planned suicidal violence on the streets of Jerusalem to hasten the Messiah's return. The Israelis have spent more than $10 million on new security measures in and around the Temple Mount, the site of the third-holiest of all Islamic shrines; the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Second Temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. Some Jewish and Christian zealots believe that the Messiah's return will be hastened by the destruction of the Dome of the Rock and the creation of a Third Temple at the site. This flash point of potential violence at the millennium is under close scrutiny by the Israeli authorities. The F.B.I., whose recent report warned that "millennial violence in Jerusalem could conceivably lead to violence in the United States," is helping the Israelis track American religious extremists arriving in Jerusalem, government officials said. At F.B.I. headquarters and at the bureau's 56 field offices in the United States, hundreds of agents will mark the new year by staring into computers and looking for signs of political violence, cyberspace attacks and Year 2000 computer problems at home and abroad, officials said. The problem could afflict computer systems at the dawn of the year 2000, despite billions spent by businesses and governments spending to fix it. The F.B.I. says that malevolent hackers might try to exploit the problem with viruses timed to multiply on Jan 1. "We are seeing evidence that some of them will release viruses that look like Y2K failures but are not," Senator Bennett said.