Terror scare delays Amtrak

An Amtrak train traveling from the District to New York and Boston yesterday was detained and searched by bomb-sniffing dogs after a "threatening note" was found in a lavatory.

The incident coincides with increasing anti-terrorism measures in New York and Boston as the cities prepare for the Republican and Democratic national conventions, respectively.

Amtrak Train 170 was stopped at 7:52 a.m. at the Newark, N.J., station. Police checked picture identifications against a passenger list while also searching luggage and packages in overhead bins.

Amtrak officials said the note was found in an envelope attached to a mirror.

Police said the note included pro-Muslim statements and called for the death of Jews. It reportedly also said: "You're all sitting ducks."

The train was released at 9:29 a.m. without incident after passengers were videotaped. No arrests were made, but an investigation into the note found by a passenger in the cafe car continues.

"It did not contain a specific threat about Train 170," said Amtrak spokesman Dan Stessel. "The passenger did exactly the right thing by notifying an Amtrak employee, who in turn notified train controllers."

The train was met at the next stop by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit police.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Secret Service has been telling transit agencies to prepare for random searches of trains and passengers' bags in Boston during the Democratic National Convention next week and in New York during the Republican National Convention from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

"We understand we are a potential target," said Michael Mulhern, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). "We have taken extraordinary steps to harden our system."

The MBTA is spending $5 million on security during the Democratic National Convention.

Police plan to search backpacks and briefcases of mass transit passengers with electronic wands and bomb-sniffing dogs to avoid a repeat of the March 11 train bombings in Madrid that killed 191 persons.

Security will be tightest around Boston's FleetCenter and New York's Madison Square Garden, where the conventions will be held. Both convention centers are adjacent to mass transit stations used by Amtrak trains. The North Station at the FleetCenter will be closed from July 25 through Aug. 1 during the convention.

"There will be an increase in security in both rail stations," said Ann Roman, Secret Service spokeswoman.

Other security arrangements include closing some entrances and exits at train stations and putting extra police on duty.

"They're inspecting all the trains that go in there," Tom Kelly, spokesman for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said about security plans for New York's Penn Station. He said the inconvenience to passengers would be minor and that transit police already take the precautions suggested by the Secret Service.

"Anything the Secret Service has approached us about is probably a daily routine here," Mr. Kelly said.

In addition, deliveries to the convention centers will be run through X-ray machines. Delegates are forbidden to bring in items that could conceal a weapon, such as sealed packages or flashlights.

Trash cans and mailboxes have been removed from nearby city streets.

In another security incident yesterday, a Turkish merchant ship heading into Philadelphia harbor was stopped because of a bomb scare.

A Coast Guard boarding team stopped the ship for what a spokesman called a "routine search."

When a member of the ship's crew told the boarding team that there was a bomb on board, the ship was ordered to anchor a safe distance away and searched more thoroughly. The crew member recanted his story about the bomb, and the ship was allowed to continue.