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.
