Informant: N.Y. Subway Plotter Is in U.S.

Oct. 7, 2005 — -- A source for information that has led to the terrorism scare on New York City's subways has identified at least one of the attackers by name and claims that the man already is in the United States, ABC News has learned.

The New York Police Department and the FBI have no proof that the person named actually is in the country, or that the person named actually exists. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security emphasized that there is no indication that the person is in the United States.

Still, the NYPD and FBI are investigating allegations that 19 operatives have been deployed to the city to place bombs in the subway, perhaps in briefcases or baby strollers.

Heightened security was visible in New York subway stations today, as police checked bags and kept alert for suspicious behavior. In one incident, authorities briefly closed part of Penn Station, one of the hubs of the city's transit system, to investigate a discarded soda bottle filled with an unidentified green liquid.

In Philadelphia, authorities detained a man wearing camouflage and carrying a backpack at a transit station after he was flagged by bomb-sniffing dogs and they were unsatisfied with his answers to questions.

The source of the threat information, arrested in Iraq, passed a polygraph test on the key points regarding the plots against the subway system, ABC News has learned -- though there were indications of deception on other parts of the test.

Based on different interpretations of the polygraph, Navy and CIA intelligence discounted the information. But other agencies analyzing the data felt the inconsistencies only lent credence to the points where the source was telling the truth.

In addition, ABC News has learned, one of two Iraqi insurgents who were sources for the threat information said when arrested, reportedly in perfect English: "You f---ing can't stop us now; it's too late."

A third man escaped arrest.

Sources say the informant told officials that the members of the attack team are made up of five nationalities -- including Afghans, Syrians and Iraqis.

Though the FBI and New York Police Department have portrayed the threat information as "credible," the Department of Homeland Security has downplayed the threat.

Former U.S. counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, now an ABC News consultant, told "Good Morning America" that the officials may be sending different messages because of jealousy.

"Based upon what we've been told, it's a credible threat, but it's not corroborated," Clarke said. "What does that mean? It means these people are terrorists, but we have only the one source.

"What I would have recommended to the president is we do exactly what the mayor is doing," Clarke added. The Homeland Security sources are "probably upset because they're left out of this. This is an FBI, New York operation."