The White House and the presidential jet Air Force One were targets of terrorists who attacked Washington and New York, the White House said Tuesday, citing credible information.
"We have reasonable and credible information that the White House and Air Force One were targeted by the terrorists," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Four planes were hijacked Monday, two destroying the World Trade Center in New York, another demolishing part of the Pentagon and a fourth crashing in Pennsylvania.
Earlier Tuesday US Secretary of State Colin Powell confirmed that intelligence officials believed the perpetrators' initial Washington targets had been the presidential mansion and Air Force One and not the Pentagon.
"Yes," Powell told reporters when asked whether he had been given that information that had been given to reporters earlier at the White House by spokesman Ari Fleischer.
He declined to comment further on the matter referring questions to Fleischer.
"I don't have anything to go beyond what Ari said and I will leave that part of it to intelligence and law enforcement agencies."
Earlier Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that the hijacked jetliner that slammed into the Pentagon had been flying directly at the White House but made a sharp turn at the last minute before it crashed into the US military headquarters -- WASHINGTON (AFP)
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