Kelly: No specific terror threats against NYC

In the wake of news that Mumbai-style suicide attacks had targeted some major European cities, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wednesday "there was no specific threat against New York City" but acknowledged intelligence agencies had been concerned about a spike in intercepted "chatter" among Pakistani-based terrorists.

Kelly was reacting to reports that coordinated, commando-style raids in Britain, France and Germany had been disrupted by a combination of U.S. drone attacks along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and other actions. In recent days the Eiffel Tower in Paris had been evacuated twice because of bomb scares.

"This plot was in its embryonic stages," a British government official told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The attacks, according to reports, were expected to be along the lines of the November 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, India's largest city, which killed over 160 and injured about 300. Associates of the Pakistani-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba attacked a rail station, luxury hotels and a Jewish charity. A Brooklyn rabbi and his wife were among the victims.

At a news conference, Kelly was guarded about specific intelligence. He said intercepted communications of terror groups indicated a "level of activity the intelligence community is concerned about."

"But there is no specific information about a threat here or in Europe," Kelly stressed.

Kelly recalled that after the Mumbai attack the NYPD took a number of steps. Police units made videos inside a number of major hotels in the city in order to have a visual record of floor plans and exits, he said, adding the tapes were used for training last year.

In light of the fact that the Mumbai terrorists were heavily armed with semiautomatic weapons and grenades, Kelly said 250 cops had received training in the use of heavy weapons. Kelly has noted in the past that local police in Mumbai lacked sufficient firepower to combat the terrorists.

U.S. intelligence had heard of the European plot about a month ago and was monitoring the people involved, according to two U.S. officials. The CIA recently stepped up airstrikes from unmanned aircraft in northern Pakistan, in part to disrupt the plot.

However, a second British government official said that while the drone strikes were thought to have disrupted the planning of the attacks, the operation was still considered active. With AP