TERROR ALERT! US ELECTION TARGETED BY AL QAEDA

US intelligence officials have warned officials in New York, Texas and Virginia about possible attacks by al Qaeda in the run up to Election Day.

No specific locations were mentioned, but intelligence officials alerted joint terrorism task forces about the potential for a threat this Monday - a day before polls open across the nation on November 8.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates airports, tunnels and bridges around New York city said they will continue with "high level of patrols" before and after Tuesday's vote.

Authority spokesman Steve Coleman declined to offer specifics of the warning but said: "We are continuing with the high level of patrols at all of our facilities that we have had in place for some time now".

The NYPD said it was "aware of the information" but said the threat report lacked specifics and was still being assessed.

"We have been working with the FBI through the Joint Terrorism Task Force and our Counterterrorism and Intelligence Bureaus," the NYPD said.

In a statement, the FBI said: "The counterterrorism and homeland security communities remain vigilant and well-postured to defend against attacks here in the United States."

The bureau said they were working closely with federal, state and local law enforcement to identify and disrupt any potential threat.

The United States has collected intelligence about a possible al Qaeda threat to attack around election time.

A US government source in Washington told Reuters some agencies have sent bulletins to local and state officials flagging up the information.

The source said, however, the nonspecific threat was relatively low level.

-----ITV