In response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Gov. Frank O'Bannon established the Indiana Counter-Terrorism and Security Council. The move came one month after the attacks and a day after O'Bannon returned home from a visit to Ground Zero.\nThe mission of the council, created by an executive order, is to coordinate public safety efforts to detect potential terrorist threats or attacks in Indiana and prevent them. The council will also expand preparedness plans already in place and develop and implement a strategy to address terrorism in Indiana. \nThe council will be Indiana's connection to the new federal Office of Homeland Security. The extent of its role with Homeland Security is yet to be determined. Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan was named council chairman and Clifford Ong was named council director. Ong has been the chairman of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission since February 2000. Other members of the council include House Speaker John Gregg, D-Sandborn and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Garton, R-Columbus, and other state departments heads. \n"Hoosiers need to know that, while they should be concerned about the threat of terrorism, they should not live in fear or be afraid to go to a football game, the symphony or another event where large groups of people gather," O'Bannon said in a press release.\nMeanwhile, eight Evansville men being held over the weekend as witnesses in a federal terrorism investigation were transferred out of the area by federal authorities. The men, all of Middle Eastern descent, were transferred Saturday morning from the Henderson County, Ky., Detention Center, Tom Cassels of the U.S. Marshal's Office told The Associated Press. Cassels and other federal officials declined to identify where the group was being taken, but WTHR-TV in Indianapolis reported late Saturday night the men were taken to an undisclosed facility in Chicago.\nAuthorities identified eight of the detained as Tarek Eid Omar, 26; Fathy Saleh Abdelkhalek, 34; Khaled Salah Nassr, 25; Yasser Shahin, 24; Tarek Abdelhamid Albasti, 29; Adel Ramadan Khalil, 46; Hesham Salem, 28; and Ahmed Attia Hassan, 26.\nThey have not been charged with a crime.\nA ninth man detained at the same time remained at the detention center, across the Ohio River from Evansville, on a hold from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. He was identified by authorities as Mohammed Youssef. His age was unavailable.\nAn attorney told one of the men's wives the group was detained because they were wanted as material witnesses in a case out of Alexandria, Va., according to a story published Saturday by the Evansville Courier & Press. The attorney, Mark Foster, told The Associated Press he was prohibited by a judge's order from speaking about the case. \nAirport security has heightened since the attacks. Bryan Nicol, the state transportation commissioner, is on the council and will be the link for airport security issues. \nCities and states nationwide are taking measures to protect their residents against anthrax after incidents in Tampa, Fla., and New York. \n"We have had a number of requests to assess situations with a probable threat of anthrax," Ong said. "We have to assess the threat first, then if deemed necessary, test the substance and take action from there." \nThe last major anthrax scare in Indiana was on Oct. 30, 1998, when three letters supposedly containing anthrax were sent to three Planned Parenthood clinics. \n"No doubt what happened on Sept. 11 is what is driving this council," Ong said. "We want to take the necessary steps to get everything back to normal."
The Associated Press contributed to the article.
