http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010622/aponline152934_000.htm

U.S. Receives Middle East Threat The Associated Press Friday, June 22, 2001; 3:29 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON –– In response to a threat against Americans in the Middle East, a Marine Corps training exercise in Jordan is being cut short and Navy ships have been ordered out of port in Bahrain, Pentagon officials said Friday.

The threat was described by the officials as "non-specific," meaning it was aimed at Americans but not necessarily against members of the military.

The threat was taken to be credible, one of the officials said.

The official said it was possible the threat was related to Thursday's announcement by the Justice Department of indictments against 13 Saudis and one Lebanese in connection with the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers apartment complex in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen members of the U.S. Air Force were killed in that attack.

It was not immediately clear whether the source of the new threat was known to U.S. officials.

In response to the threat, several Navy minesweeping ships were ordered out of port in Bahrain, which is headquarters for the U.S. 5th Fleet that patrols the Persian Gulf area. The aircraft carrier USS Constellation and her battle group already were at sea, officials said.

Other additional security measures also were taken, but the officials would not disclose details.

The level of security for U.S. forces in the Middle East – known as the "threatcon" – was raised a notch, the officials said. They would not be more specific.

A contingent of 2,200 Marines operating as an Amphibious Ready Group cut short their training in Jordan, the officials said. The Marines were being taken back aboard their three ships, led by the USS Boxer.

Extra security precautions for U.S. forces in the Middle East have been ordered several times since the bombing last October of the USS Cole in Yemen.

© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press

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U.S. military, embassies on terrorist alert

Friday, 22 June 2001 19:35 (ET)

U.S. military, embassies on terrorist alert By RICHARD SALE and ELI J. LAKE

WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- The State Department has cautioned U.S. citizens worldwide to be aware that they are potential targets for terrorists, and the Defense Department has put U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf on "threatcon Delta," the highest state of alert, because of what officials said were "credible" threats of terrorist attack.

The actions followed Thursday's indictment of 14 men for their involvement in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.

In the Persian Gulf, the U.S. 5th Fleet has put to sea from facilities in Bahrain and a 2,200-man Marine Corps training exercise involving the Amphibious Ready Group was canceled in Jordan, U.S. officials said.

As of June 18, the 5th Fleet included 20 ships, 66 aircraft and nearly 11,000 sailors and Marines, according to the U.S. Navy's Web site.

Intelligence officials pointed out that it was only Thursday that the Justice Department indicted 13 Saudis and a Lebanese alleged to be members of an Iranian-trained and assisted group, the Saudi Hezbollah, for carrying out that attack.

A 46-count indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va., said that elements of the Iranian government supervised and supported the suspects, even though no charges were made against specific Iranian officials.

But a former CIA official said that "It should be remembered that Iran had pledged to drive the United States military out of the Persian Gulf. Iraq has vowed the same thing."

Another former CIA official said the U.S. military has "become really gun shy" since the bombing last October of the USS Cole while the ship was refueling in Aden.

According to former CIA officials, the Lebanon-based Hezbollah built the bomb that severely damaged the Cole.

The militant Hezbollah, however, denied Friday that it had played a role in the 1996 Khobar Tower bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 U.S. servicemen.

"Such false accusations against Hezbollah by accusing one of its members or claiming that it contributed with training are political charges which are not based on any proof," a Hezbollah statement said.

State Department officials also told United Press International on Friday that the worldwide alert was prompted by new threats from Osama bin Laden's organization, but they could not give details of those threats.

"There are increased and credible but vague threats from bin Laden," one official said. "Therefore a worldwide caution will be issued rather than a specific public announcement or travel warning to country X."

The State Department has taken the additional step of closing all sections with access to the public in U.S. embassies in Bahrain and Senegal, State Department officials told UPI. A senior State Department official said the embassies in Dakar and Manama were closed to "review security posture," and a decision will be made Saturday on whether to reopen.

On Sunday, the FBI pulled its team of investigators from Yemen following credible threats to their security. However, senior officials of the U.S. embassy in Sanaa remained at their posts despite the same information.

The U.S. military has reason to be wary. After the USS Cole was bombed in Aden harbor in October, killing 17 sailors, U.S. forces in the region went on much higher alert with Navy ships putting out to sea and land-based U.S. forces sharply tightening security.

The worldwide caution released late Friday is second in less than a month and the third since May 11. On May 29, the State Department issued the following warning to U.S. citizens: "The U.S. government learned in early May 2001 that American citizens abroad may be the target of a terrorist threat from extremist groups with links to Osama bin Ladin's Al-Qaida organization. In the past, such individuals have not distinguished between official and civilian targets."

On that occasion, the advisory was linked to the conviction by a New York court of four men associated with the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya respectively. Those attacks were also linked to bin Laden's organization.

"There are several blips and incidents on the radar. At the same time there has been a tick upward in reports of possible terrorist activities. Some of these are pretty vague, country X to country Y with the intent of attacking five or six kinds of targets," one State Department official told UPI. "Generally we get various reports of people moving around and planning and plotting attacks, they are very sketchy, the sourcing is not too solid. There is a lot of background noise on this."

Former CIA officials have said there are "active bin Laden cells throughout the Persian Gulf area including Qatar and Bahrain."

-- Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved. --

-- suzy (itssuzy2@aol.com), June 22, 2001