Las Vegas Officials Say They Did Not Play Down a Qaeda Terrorism Threat

By NICK MADIGAN and CATHY SCOTT

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 10, 2004 -- In Las Vegas, a place resolutely dedicated to fantasy and the pursuit of dreams, the all-too-real possibility that terrorists of Al Qaeda focused on several casinos has prompted city officials and casino operators into a frenzy of assurances that all is safe here.

Memorandums by two federal prosecutors, which were obtained by The Associated Press, say that officials here played down or even ignored evidence two years ago that terrorists had videotaped at least three casinos on the Las Vegas strip. The officials here apparently feared that revealing such information publicly would hurt the city's thriving gambling and entertainment industry, according to the memorandums.

The memorandums gave details of two videos that showed Qaeda operatives casing Las Vegas casinos, including the MGM Grand, Excalibur and New York-New York. One of the tapes was shot in 1997 and found in Spain in 2002, and included a reference to Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who federal officials believe masterminded the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The other tape was found in Detroit in a raid on a terrorist cell and shows the same three casinos.

One of the memorandums said that the mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, was concerned that tourism would suffer if news of the tapes reached the public.

But Mr. Goodman said in an interview on Tuesday that he was never told of the tapes and never saw them, and he was adamant that neither he nor anyone else here covered up a threat to the city.

''Certainly nobody ever said there was a danger to Las Vegas,'' Mr. Goodman said. ''The F.B.I.'s message consistently has been, there is no threat to Las Vegas.''

His comments were echoed by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which issued a statement on Tuesday accusing the news media of blowing the matter out of proportion.

''We want the world to know that if we ever do have information of a specific and credible threat, we will share it, even if it meant visitors decided to stay home as a result,'' said the statement, which was signed by Jim Gibson, the group's chairman, and Rossi Ralenkotter, its president.

''If there was a specific and credible threat, we would expect to be notified,'' the statement said. The statement did not say if the group had been notified of the existence of the tapes or whether any of its members saw them.

One of the memorandums, written by Keith Corbett, an assistant United States attorney in Detroit, said that when an F.B.I. agent went to Las Vegas in the fall of 2002 to show officials here the tape found in Detroit, most of them declined to attend. Mr. Corbett cited casino representatives, the Clark County Sheriff's Department and members of the local joint terrorism task force. The only people who attended the briefing were two police officers, he said.

Mr. Corbett said the three casinos had informed the F.B.I. agent, Paul George, ''that they did not show up because of concerns about liability,'' according to the text of one of the memorandums obtained by The Associated Press. The memorandum said the casinos felt they did not want to see the videotape for fear it would make them more liable to civil lawsuits if an attack were to occur.

Those assertions were disputed Tuesday by David Nanz, an agent in the Las Vegas F.B.I. office. He said that the allegation that Mr. George ''was given the cold shoulder'' was wrong and that his briefing was attended by various local enforcement officials and not just the two police officers.

A spokeswoman for MGM Mirage, the parent company of the MGM Grand, New York-New York and three other casinos here, said that security officials for the company had seen one of the tapes several months before the briefing offered by Mr. George and had no need to see it again. The spokeswoman, Yvette Monet, said the viewing had been provided by local F.B.I. officials.

''We have cooperated fully with local, state and federal authorities in dealing with these matters and we continue to do so,'' Ms. Monet said. ''I have to leave it at that.''

Representatives of other casinos said they preferred to let the convention and visitors bureau speak for them.

Several visitors to this bustling, sweltering town said they might have changed their minds about coming here had they known that terrorists had cased the place.

''I kind of believe what you don't know won't hurt you,'' Darlene Martinez, a postal clerk from Denver, said Tuesday as she left the MGM Grand. ''But I think if you're responsible for having a lot of people come visit you, you should let people know. It kind of puts a different perspective on my trip now, knowing that. I'll be more leery of the person next to me. I'll be more alert.''

Shirley Bertelman, a Pittsburgh resident who arrived on Saturday and who had just finished a session on the slot machines in the same casino, said she could not worry about terrorists behind every corner, every car, every casino, but that she could understand if hotel and casino owners had been reluctant to alert the public and spoil the fun.

''If the word's out there that the terrorists are targeting this casino, you're going to go across the street or somewhere else,'' Ms. Bertelman said. ''You're going to avoid it like the plague.''
Images: Photo: Oscar Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, said he was never told of videotapes of three casinos taken by Qaeda operatives. (Photo by Associated Press)
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company