US experts investigate possible tunnel plot

Описание: (26 Feb 2002) VOICED BY VERA FRANKL



0000 Exterior US embassy
0006 Street next to embassy compound
0009 Men marking entrance to utility tunnel
0013 Shot down into tunnel entrance
0017 Security inspector entering tunnel
0023 Police and inspectors outside embassy wall
0027 Shot down to inspector in tunnel
0030 SOUNDBITE (English) Ian Kelly, Information officer for US embassy
"This tunnel runs adjacent to the embassy compound, it does not run under the embassy compound and right now there's a couple of security walls and in one of them there apparently is a small hole."
0047 US inspector entering tunnel
0050 Shot looking down on US inspectors in tunnel
0054 SOUNDBITE (English) Ian Kelly, Information officer for US embassy
"I can't really speculate on who did it and why it was done but certainly we are all at a very high level of vigilance."
0102 Wide of bomb scene
0105 Midshot of bomb blast site
0109 Italian police inspectors at the scene
0112 Close up of evidence bag
0116 More of police at scene
0120 Security officers
0122 Police and crowds watching
0127 Vision ends

STORYLINE:

US security experts joined Italian investigators on Tuesday to inspect a tunnel running alongside the US embassy in Rome in connection with an Italian probe of a group of Moroccans suspected of planning a chemical attack.

A hole was found in the tunnel after the Moroccan suspects were arrested last week in possession of cyanide and other chemicals.

Also found in the raids was a tourist map with the US embassy circled and municipal maps indicating the location of utility lines near the embassy.

002 The American embassy in Rome stands behind thick walls on the fashionable Via Veneto in the heart of the city.

009 But the compound - as well as a utility tunnel running under a nearby street - were marked on the suspects' map.

015 In the tense climate following the September 11 terror attacks Italian police reacted immediately.

0020 They suspected a plot to poison the embassy's water supply.

0023 But it's not yet known if the hole was made by maintenance crews or is something more sinister.

030 SOUNDBITE (English)
"This tunnel runs adjacent to the embassy compound, it does not run under the embassy compound and right now there's a couple of security walls and in one of them there apparently is a small hole."
SUPERCAPTION: Ian Kelly, Information officer for US embassy

047 Experts from the US State Department inspected the tunnel but wouldn't comment on what they found.

054 SOUNDBITE (English)
"I can't really speculate on who did it and why it was done but certainly we are all at a very high level of vigilance."
SUPERCAPTION: Ian Kelly, Information officer for US embassy

102 Security was also high in downtown Rome after a bomb blast near the Interior Ministry, headquarters of Italy's police and security services.

110 The explosion damaged parked cars and shattered nearby windows but no injuries were reported.

115 Italian security forces have been on high alert since the September 11 attacks, and Washington has warned that Italy is especially vulnerable.

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