It’s not surprising security is tight at the UN during the general assembly. We all expect to have to stand in long queues to pass through metal detectors at any gathering where Barack Obama is present, especially when he is joined by Benjamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas, Muammar Gaddafi and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. No wonder there are snipers on top of the nearby hotels and sniffer dogs are roaming the streets.

But now it seems all the security is in the wrong place. The latest US terror alert issued yesterday is not warning of a possible attack against any of the world leaders visiting here or the United Nations itself. The most dangerous places in the city are apparently the sports stadiums. That’s where the police say they are now expecting the next Al Qaeda attack - a ball game is more likely to be hit than tomorrow’s meeting of the security council.

The Feds are warning that an Al-Qaeda training manual specifically lists “blasting and destroying the places of amusement, immorality, and sin … and attacking vital economic centres” as desired targets of the global terror network.

A joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said while the agencies “have no information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack, we believe it is prudent to raise the security awareness of our local law enforcement partners regarding the targets and tactics of previous terrorist activity.”

They obviously don’t realise that all of their local law enforcement partners in New York (I assume they include the NYPD) are patrolling the weird array of protests outside the United Nations building.

Still, since it appears that the NYPD accidentally blew the surveilance of a terrorist suspect this month by questioning one of his friends about him, maybe the FBI will be happy if all the cops are kept out of the way.

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I am told the Americans are in the midst of a major rethink of their policy towards Somalia, as fighting within the last few days threatens to topple the government in Mogadishu, such as it exists. read more

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Perhaps the most interesting line in the US homeland security secretary’s interview with me this morning concerns her fears over Somali Americans carrying out terrorist attacks inside the United States.

She concedes that a small number of Somalis have travelled from the US to Somalia to train in jihad.

“Right now we are talking about people going over there,” she says, “but any time you have individuals who are being trained, if they want to return, would have the operational-type skills to carry out an attack.. That is an area you need to pay attention to.”
 
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Yesterday in Downing Street I asked Gordon Brown whether Saudi Arabia is still funding the Taliban. I was attending a news conference he was hosting with Pakistan’s President Zardari.

Mr Brown did not address my specific question. Sidestepping the Saudi aspect, he described the MI6 financial units that are now hard at work tracking Taliban transactions and bank accounts.

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