ABU DHABI ø The U.S. Fifth Fleet has decided to send home families
of about 3,000 sailors and other military personnel based in Bahrain.
U.S. officials said the Fifth Fleet's order came amid intelligence
reports that Al Qaida or related insurgents were planning a major attack
against U.S. or Western targets in the Gulf Arab kingdom. Bahrain is linked
by road to neighboring Saudi Arabia, which has been the target of an Al
Qaida campaign that began in May 2003.
This was the first mandatory evacuation of U.S. nationals from Bahrain,
a major non-NATO U.S. ally and member of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which contains about 3,000 military
personnel.
On July 1, the State Department warned Americans against traveling to
Bahrain and authorized the voluntary departure of non-essential staff from
the U.S. embassy in Manama, Middle East Newsline reported. The department cited information of an Islamic
insurgency attack in Bahrain.
Officials said U.S. military personnel would not be evacuated from
Bahrain. But they said the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet has been placed
on alert and military personnel were banned from occupying more than 25
percent of the apartments of any residential building in Bahrain as part of
an effort to avoid becoming an Al Qaida target.
Cmdr. James Graybeal, spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said about 650
people, comprising 35 families, would be affected by the order to leave
Bahrain. Graybeal identified those leaving as relatives of service members
as well as Defense Department staffers.
"We are in the process of executing the departure, which will happen in
the next few days," Graybeal said.
Officials said the mandatory departure from Bahrain would last at least
30 days.