The United States has placed its embassies in Kuwait
and Yemen on high alert, citing increased prospects of Islamic insurgency attacks.
U.S. officials said the heightened alert has resulted in accelerated
procurement and additional manpower at the embassies, Middle East Newsline reported. They said additional U.S. Marines have been posted
and local authorities have cooperated in increasing perimeter security.
The State Department also issued warnings to embassies
around the world that they could come under an attack by Al Qaida.
The warning came after the United States deemed as authentic a new tape by Ayman
Zawahiri, the chief deputy of Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden.
"The U.S. government continues to receive credible indications that
extremist groups and individuals are planning additional terrorist actions
against U.S. interests," the department said. "Because security and security
awareness have been elevated within the United States, the terrorists may
target U.S. interests overseas."
"There has been a heightened concern, and resources provided to both
posts over the course of the last six months, if
not more," Ray Williams, deputy assistant secretary of state for
countermeasures and information security, said on Thursday. "Both of these
are substantial facilities."
The U.S. embassy in Kuwait comprises a 30-acre compound set back about
400 meters from the main street. Williams said the compound also contains
housing for marines and staff.
"The Kuwaitis have been very cooperative in working with us, and support
us quite well," Williams told the House Armed Services Committee's Special
Oversight Panel on Terrorism.
On Friday, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait was scheduled to launch an
exercise to test the speed with which its nationals could be evacuated from
the sheikdom. The exercise envisions a scenario in which the embassy
evacuates an undetermined number of Americans from Kuwait within hours.
Diplomats said 100 people would take part in the exercise.
The means of evacuation would include military helicopters and warships.
The helicopters would land in the compound of the U.S. embassy in Kuwait
City and take those evacuated to nearby warships.
Williams did not cite Yemeni cooperation with the U.S. embassy in Sanaa.
Instead, the official said U.S. security officials "work very closely" with
other embassies in the area.
The official said the State Department has invested in improving
physical security at such "high-threat" posts as Beirut. He said the
emergence of what he termed transnational terrorism has raised the threat of
attack even in missions once regarded as safe.
Since 1999, the department has spent more than $200 million in improving
security at embassies. The administration has requested $755 million to
further improve embassy security.
Brig. Gen. Douglas O'Dell, commander of the 4th Marine Expeditionary
Brigade, said the corps has reactivated the brigade and designated it as an
anti-terrorism unit. He said marines are being trained to detect threats
outside of embassy compounds. The department employs 1,240 marines to guard
embassies, a figure expected to grow to 1,500 by 2007.
"We must now train them to be more aware than ever that any diplomatic
mission, no matter how remote or how benign its locale, may be targeted by
terrorists," O'Dell said.
Officials said State Department security personnel operate in
plainclothes outside the embassy. They conduct surveillance and try to
detect monitoring of the compound or embassy personnel.
Rep. Vic Snyder expressed concern that the Islamic attack in Kuwait
earlier this week would place the U.S. embassy in danger. He said the
embassy is packed with military personnel and would comprise an ideal target
for Al Qaida.
"Some of our embassies and consulates really are packed pretty full of
military personnel," Snyder said. "If some extremist group is motivated by
trying to push American troops out of the country, Marine houses and some of
the embassies and consulates that are pretty full of military personnel
would be highly lucrative targets for some of the terrorists."
