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U.S. Fifth Fleet on highest alert; Navy warns oil tankers in Gulf

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, September 12, 2002

ABU DHABI Ñ The U.S. Fifth Fleet was placed on the highest state of alert as the U.S. Navy warned yesterday that Al Qaida is targeting oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

The navy said Al Qaida has planned attacks against oil tankers in and around the Persian Gulf from which 25 percent of the world's oil supply stems. This includes the Red Sea, according to Middle East Newsline.

The U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, with some 4,000 military personnel, was placed on "Threat Condition Delta," the highest alert set by the U.S. military. The rest of the U.S. military was placed at "Threat Condition Charlie," the second-highest level on a four-tier scale of alert.



"Shipmasters should exercise extreme caution when transiting strategic choke points such as the Strait of Hormuz or Bab-el-Mandeb, or sailing in traditional high-threat areas such as along the Horn of Africa and other confined waters," the U.S. Navy statement said.

"Coalition forces are alert to the potential threat and are currently on patrol in the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea and Gulf of Oman."

The navy office warned ships to exercise what it termed extreme caution in the Gulf, particularly through the narrow Straits of Hormuz. It was said to have been the first such U.S. naval warning to shippers of threats in the Gulf since the Al Qaida suicide attacks on New York and Washington last year.

"According to unconfirmed reports circulating within the regional shipping community, the Al Qaida terrorist group has planned attacks against oil tankers transiting the Arabian Gulf and Horn of Africa areas," the U.S. Navy's Maritime Liaison Office in Bahrain said in a statement on Tuesday.

In addition, the State Department closed the U.S. embassies of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates and cancelled a Sept. 11 memorial in Qatar. The embassies are scheduled to reopen on Thursday.

[The U.S. Fox news network reported late Tuesday that the U.S. Central Command will start moving its headquarters to Qatar on Thursday. The command, which did not confirm the report, is located in Tampa, Fla.] In Washington, U.S. officials said the intelligence community has obtained information that several nationals from Middle East countries are preparing suicide attacks against U.S. interests in the region. They said the attacks could also target major infrastructure in the United States.



The new intelligence, officials said, has raised the level of alert in the United States. Officials said the United States was placed under Orange alert, the second highest in the five-tier alert system established by the federal government.

Attorney General John Ashcroft said the most likely targets by the Middle East group are "the transportation and energy sectors and facilities or gatherings that would be recognized worldwide as symbols of American power or security." He said these include U.S. military facilities, embassies and national monuments.

"At this time," Ashcroft said, "most intelligence focuses on possible attacks on U.S. interests overseas."

Israel Radio reported on Wednesday that an Israeli pilot unwittingly helped train Hani Hanjour in a flight over Washington. Hanjour was one of the Al Qaida suicide hijackers and flew with the pilot over Washington three weeks before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The Israeli pilot was interrogated by the FBI after the Al Qaida suicide attacks and was found not have any links with the hijackings.

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