The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 18

ISA rniuMi Mrh IL I lyo THE HERALD IfcKKUK Ih Itit HtRKIUmu: I ht OKLAHOMA OITY BOMBING fill-' I i iN-v- 7 if I V'hl It' i) 1 -l 'fill I J- a fk bf iW g' if 1 SR 4 i I 1 I I ft i i I If a A A i I 1 5 i I I Jk If4- Associati ji -V Associated Press Security company deluged with calls Florida firms taking precautions By MIMI WHfTEFIELD And TED REED Herald Business Writers Almost immediately after the Oklahoma bombing calls began pouring into Wackenhut Corp: Clients wanted extra guards and emergency security reviews is a lot of scrambling by companies to get uniformed guards out said Patrick Cannan a spokesman for the Coral Gables security company immediately after the news came up we started getting In South Florida Thursday brought a heightened sense of concern and awareness about security At the 55-story First Union Financial Center in downtown Miami building management issued a memo alerting all security guards to the Oklahoma blast Outside guards worked with Miami police to ticket or tow unattended vehicles left on nearby streets While a number of companies contacted by The Herald were reluctant to discuss any extra security precautions some said they are taking no chances and have instituted extra checks or reinforced guards In Boynton Beach Motorola tightened security at its electronic pager plant with random perimeter patrols of its property and more careful inspection of bags and parcels carried by people entering the building Officials at both Port Everglades and the Port of Miami held security meetings Thursday and reinforced existing safety measures nothing that would be apparent to a casual said Port Everglades spokesman Dave Miller who said cargo terminals and the port's petroleum distribution system are the chief concerns Port of Miami Director Carmen Lunetta said more plainclothes guards would patrol passenger terminals and IDs will be checked more carefully at cargo terminals Mark Henderson spokesman for Miami International Airport said the airport has begun a review of its security plans The Federal Aviation Administration had requested a review by selected airports because of recent events related to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing Cannan said most companies were requesting uniformed guards or security surveys to assess the need for guards and electronic surveillance Investors reacted to the bomb blast by buying up security stocks Wackenhut shares closed at $1775 Thursday up $212 and stocks of the other top two security firms also rose Borg-Warner Security Corp finished the day at $862 up 37 cents and Pinkerton Security rose 50 cents to close at 1 6 concern may be more widespread than after the New York World Trade Center said Cannan mid-America People don't react the same as when something happens in New York Ackerman Group in Miami Beach which advises corporate clients on hostage situations and political risk in foreign countries also was fielding more calls Thursday think corporate America views this as a threat against said Mike Ackerman president of the firm not a direct hit against US corporations like the World Trade Center was but certainly people are more concerned about perimeter security and underground parking Herald Staff Writers Dale Dupont and Charles Rabin contributed to this report GRIM SEARCH: Workers Thursday sift through the Oklahoma City federal building Twice as many eyes out keeping watch Outside federal court in downtown Miami on Thursday guards restricted parking near the building dale and Miami to watch for packages move Dumpsters away from buildings and look for suspicious vehicles and to make sure visitors wear badges and are escorted by employees Chariff said security at MIA had not been asked to look out for anyone specific Capt Don Williamson of the Government Services Administration Federal Protective Service which guards many federal buildings in South Florida agreed haven't been asked to look for any individual or any type of he said heightened our security measures We're being real careful about checking our Outside federal court in downtown Miami on Thursday guards restricted parking near the building Williamson said his men were working extra shifts at various federal facilities He said employees at those buildings were expressing concern tell them doing the vei7 best job we can to keep them he said Local police reported several bomb scares and buildings that had to be evacuated including a local high school Meanwhile the Dade County office issued guidelines to Metro employees concerning the proper response to bomb threats They were given the standard FBI bomb threat form that asks them to' get from the caller of the threat the specific location of the bomb and the expected time of detonation if possible It also lists guidelines for building evacuation bomb threat received by any employee will be considered valid until proven says the directive By JOHN LANTIGUA Herald Staff Writer Miami International Airport one of about 20 in the nation considered a high-risk airport heightened its protective measures Thursday one day after a bomb killed dozens at the Oklahoma City federal building taking our security measures up another said Lauren Gail Chariff head of public affairs are twice as many eyes out there now looking out for anything or anybody The Security rating is designated by the Federal Aviation Administration rating has to do with our geographic position and the great volume of flights to and from foreign Chariff said She said airport security authorities have held meetings with shop owners and employees of the airport and airlines She said those people were being encouraged to communicate more frequently with security forces The forces at the airport include Metro-Dade police Dade County Aviation Department guards and private security agents who work for the airlines There had been no increase in these personnel as of Thursday The FAA has sent warnings to offices where its employees work including the air traffic control towers in Fort Lauder STILL WAITING: Shaundra Wineberry right watches rescue efforts with Beverly King whose friend is a day-care worker still unaccounted for Thursday in Oklahoma City Arabs living in US caught between two ow religious convictions and we should not stereotype But on Y-100's and radio morning show in South Florida DJ John Kross echoed call for deportation of Syrians Iraqis Iranians and other Arabs living in the United States Kross later justified his comments by equating the Oklahoma City bombing to Pearl Harbor president should declare war when they find out who it obviously is and terrorist groups either from Iraq Iran Libya or For David Shihada Palestinian-American owner of Shihada Realty in W'estchester such sentiment is a recurrence of a nightmare his familv endured during the Persian Gulf War in 1991 His sister in Maryland he says went by her married name Hussein threw rocks and literally at her he recalls agony with other Arab Americans this week beyond heartfelt sadness for the tragedy are caught between two says Dr Walid Anthony Phares professor of Mideast studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton are despised by Islamic fundamentalists as traitors and lumped in with the terrorists by mainstream says Souad Kattoura who formerly headed a Miami chapter of the Amcrican-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee He visited 36 Arab business friends around Miami on Thursday and found pervasive fear and dread over the search for perpetrators crossing our he savs petrified it will turn out to be an President Clinton issued a plea Thursday for tolerance specifically noting that three Arab-American groups had condemned the bombing beings everywhere all over the world will condemn this out of their By JOHN BARRY And DAVID KIDWELL Herald Staff Writer Laced with rage and menace hate calls to the home of Maulana Shafayat Mohammed began only moments after Wednesday's bombing cursed and said you just get out of this said Mohammed principal of the Dorul Uloom Islamic Institute in Pembroke Pines The next morning Howard Stern's demands for the United States to all the blared over a radio inside the Kamel Market in Coconut Grove Syrian owner Jamal Rahma yelled back at his radio This was before authorities had found a single suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing South nearly 40000 residents of Middle Eastern descent have shared a special.