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[url]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/19/attack/main512815.shtml[/url]

(CBS) The FBI says it is investigating a Nevada man's claim that he picked up a conversation in Arabic on his cell phone during which someone said there would be a "hit" on the "day of freedom."

"We've initiated a full-scale investigation to determine if this constitutes a threat, and if so, what kind of threat," says Daron Borst, a FBI Special Agent in Las Vegas.

Borst says agents have interviewed the man who reported the conversation, Michael Hamdan, and plan to question him again Friday.

In an interview with CBS Radio News, Borst says the FBI has "been made aware of the gentleman's claim that he intercepted the phone call, and we are taking it seriously."

Hamdan, 54, said he's a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Lebanon and speaks Arabic.

Hamdan said he was trying to call his wife on his cell phone Saturday when he heard Arabic voices.

"They said in Arabic, not even a word of English, 'We are in the city of corruption, the city of prostitution, the city of gambling, the city of unbelievers,' " said Hamdan.

He says he also heard a voice say: "We are going to hit them on the day of freedom."

Hamdan said the call lasted about 90 seconds before the line went dead. He said he believes the men were talking about July Fourth.

"I was frozen, absolutely cold," Hamdan said. "I was sweating. I couldn't believe what I heard."

Hamdan said he reported what he heard to the FBI early Sunday morning.

CBS News Affiliate KLAS-TV reports the FBI is now trying to trace the cell phone call Hamdan says he overheard.

Hamdan, who is married and has two children, described himself as a semi-retired businessman. He said he moved to the United States in 1976.

Hamadan's tip to the FBI comes as the agency is on alert with plans to monitor Independence Day parades and festivities nationwide, although not because of any specific threat.

Accordingly, the government has not put out a public warning or advisory for Americans to be more cautious specifically on July Fourth.

But the Bush administration's Homeland Security office has advised government personnel at many levels that security staffing should remain at normal levels, just as if it were not a holiday.

The FBI's plans for safeguarding the Fourth were due at the agency's headquarters this week.

While the plans are not reported to be a reaction to any specific threat, terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba have revealed a "general interest" in striking on that day.

Monitoring of Fourth of July events is expected to include several forms of electronic surveillance as well as a heavy presence of field agents, both apparent and undercover.

Keep hammering them with plausiable sounding threats to keep them running in circles, then when the time is right, to strike at whatever target you decide.

Hamdan said he was trying to call his wife on his cell phone Saturday when he heard Arabic voices.

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I have occasionally heard snippets of conversations (actually more like one or two words) on my old analog cell phone. I understand that it's almost impossible with the digital models.

What are the odds that:

1. This fellow is using a phone that susceptable to this kind of interference (all the mobile service providers are pushing digital phones almost exclusively nowdays),

2. This fellow just happens to speak Arabic,

3. This fellow just happens to intercept the one particular phone call made by these clowns that mentions their "intentions", and

4. This fellow just happens to intercept the entire conversation?

It does indeed sound like either a hoax or deliberate misinformation.

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Doubtful.

My civil engineer friend has told me that security at Hoover has been heighted ever since the attacks. Besides, if you are feinting, Vegas is too close to Hoover.

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Could be when you're in a non-digital coverage area of Texas, your phone will switch to analog. But that would be only in remote, rural areas, not in or around a city the size of Vegas.

What's your provider and whereabouts in Texas do you live?

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I have a NEW digital phone, and I still occasionally get other conversations.  I have to disconnect and call back to get rid of it.  It's not just the old analog phones that do this...

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OFF topic....brouhaha..in relation to your sig line...have you heard alan parson's "tales of mystery and imagination"?

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No, but somebody else was right in Tatja's thread.  It's from a Poe poem called "A Dream Within a Dream".  I didn't answer cuz I didn't want to hijack her thread.

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So is it legal for the fedcoats to record all cell phone conversations without warrents? How else could they have a recording of the dudes call?