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U.S. shuts missions in Saudi Arabia

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington May 20. Acting on fresh intelligence information of possible terrorist attacks against the U.S. or its interests overseas, the Bush administration has shut down the American embassy and two consulates in Saudi Arabia.

However, the Federal alert status remains at "yellow", an elevated level, but at the middle in a five-tier-colour-coded warning system. The next higher level will be "orange" followed by "red" which will indicate severe risk.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is saying that given what took place in Saudi Arabia last week by way of car bombings in three places that left 34 persons dead, the Al-Qaeda network is active and could launch attacks against the U.S. or its interests.

According to a bulletin of the FBI, the assessment of the intelligence is that attacks against U.S. and Western targets were "likely" and that attacks in the U.S. "cannot be ruled out''. The bulletin of the FBI, the nodal domestic intelligence agency, has been circulated to domestic law enforcement officers.

State and local police forces have been asked to be especially vigilant and the FBI is making the point that terrorists could be seeking out soft targets that are lightly guarded than Government and military installations. The intelligence community here is also convinced that the car bombings in Saudi Arabia against three compounds are the handiwork of the Al-Qaeda, for it had all the elements of that outfit's operation such as precise planning, surveillance and multi-team coordination.

Further, the FBI has warned that this outfit is adapting its target list to the "soft" variety. The FBI is very much involved in the investigation of the Saudi Arabia blasts and is not a bystander, as has been suggested in sections of the media, it is said here. Further, the FBI is active in the investigation in Morocco where attacks in Casablanca last Friday left 41 persons dead.

AP reports:

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's ambassador in Washington told presspersons in Riyadh, that ``there is chatter, a high level of chatter regionally and in other international spots'' about possible attacks in Saudi Arabia or America.

``My gut feeling tells me something big is going to happen here or in America,'' Prince Bandar bin Sultan said late on Monday.

Prince Bandar is known for handling delicate diplomatic tasks for his Government and rushed back to Riyadh following the car bombing attacks.

Prince Bandar said Saudi authorities had received advance warning of a terror attack hitting Saudi Arabia before the Riyadh bombings. ``Yes, we had warning, yes we had heightened alert, but we never had a specific time and place designated'' he said.

Earlier on Monday, a man standing with a gun outside the U.S. consulate in Dhahran, 480 km east of Riyadh, was arrested and was being questioned by police, a U.S. embassy official said. U.S. diplomats said no one was injured or threatened in the incident, but the consulate was closed until further notice. In 1996, a truck bombing killed 19 Americans at the Khobar Towers barracks near Dhahran.

Prince Bandar said the man was armed with a machine gun and a pistol, was wanted by police on drugs charges and was seeking political asylum.

The Ambassador also told presspersons that Saudi authorities had obtained information during recent months that the Al-Qaeda had been wracked by internal divisions. Saudi officials believed that the terror group's leaders had been so split that they didn't want to risk carrying out any attacks in Saudi Arabia, which is Osama's birthplace, in order to maintain their intellectual base within the Gulf kingdom.

``(But) they have mended their differences and decided to come out,'' he said.

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