Embassies closed in response to terror threats

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- The United States, Britain and Germany temporarily closed their embassies and consulates in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday following warnings of "imminent" terror threats.

A Saudi official said dozens of Muslim militants linked to al-Qaida are believed ready to volunteer for suicide bombings like the ones that targeted Westerners in Riyadh last week.

The Bush administration, meanwhile, raised the national terror alert level to orange on Tuesday amid fears the wave of terrorist attacks overseas will spread to the United States.

Saudi authorities said they were doing all they could to ward off violence and announced new arrests Tuesday.

Saudi security officials said three suspected al-Qaida militants were arrested Monday in the southwestern port of Jiddah following the near-simultaneous May 12 attacks on the outskirts of Riyadh that killed 34 people, including eight Americans, two Britons and nine attackers.

The security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave no details on the arrests and it was unclear whether investigators believe the three men were connected to the May 12 suicide attacks, which officials have linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network.

The arrests were in addition to an earlier announcement that four suspects apparently linked to al-Qaida were in custody for the Riyadh car bombings.

"The embassy continues to receive credible information that further terrorist attacks are being planned against unspecified targets in Saudi Arabia," warned a statement posted Tuesday on U.S. Embassy and consulate Web sites.

"In response to information that some strikes may be imminent, the embassy in Riyadh and the consulates in Jiddah and Dhahran will be closed." The statement said diplomatic offices would close Wednesday and reopen Sunday.

Some leaving the country

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said relatives of mission staff and non-emergency personnel were leaving the country. "Those who remain have their movements restricted to essential travel only. Mission children are not going to school," he said.

White House spokesman Ari Flesicher said the embassy and consulate closures were "a precaution."

"We have concerns dealing with the security situation there and we are taking the proper steps, the wise steps necessary to protect Americans," he said.

In London, the British Foreign Office announced its embassy in Riyadh, its consulate in Jiddah and a trade office near Dhahran would close over the same period.

The German Foreign Ministry said it was closing its embassy in Riyadh and another mission in Jiddah until the end of the week. No other details were given.

A Saudi official said Tuesday that investigators were aware of about 50 militants, some now dead, believed to belong to three Saudi cells, including the one that carried out the May 12 bombings. Another cell has fled Saudi Arabia and the third is at large in the kingdom, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said the surviving militants were ready to volunteer for more suicide strikes, were tied to al-Qaida and had hard-core sympathizers numbering "in the low hundreds."

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, said in Riyadh, "there is chatter, a high level of chatter regionally and in other international spots" about possible new attacks in Saudi Arabia or America.

An FBI bulletin sent to state and local law enforcement agencies around the United States said: "The U.S. intelligence community assesses that attacks against U.S. and Western targets overseas are likely; attacks in the United States cannot be ruled out."

The Riyadh attacks have been seen as not only an attack on U.S. and other Western interests, but also a strike on the Saudi government for its close ties with America and its decision following the 1991 Gulf War to allow American troops to be stationed in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-born bin Laden said the U.S. presence defiles the country, which is custodian of Islam's two holiest shrines.

The United States announced last month its air operations base would move from Saudi Arabia to Qatar.

Also Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said his country was increasing security measures to prevent further attacks. Speaking at a news conference, Saud said removing the cause of terrorism was an international responsibility and suggested that resolving the Palestinian issue would remove "a great part of the reasons for terrorism in our region."

Crown Prince Abdullah held a palace reception Tuesday for the families of those killed and wounded in the bombings, and vowed the "apostates" responsible for the attacks would be caught and punished.

"All the necessary steps will be taken to achieve this goal and prevent those hateful people from damaging the kingdom," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying.

More than 60 FBI and other U.S. investigators are assisting Saudi authorities with the probe into the attacks.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef says investigators have identified three of the badly mangled bodies of nine Saudi men thought to have carried out the Riyadh attacks. The three were among 19 suspects sought in connection with a weapons cache found May 6 linked to al-Qaida.

The government had said the 19 were believed to be receiving orders directly from bin Laden and had been planning to use the seized weapons to attack the Saudi royal family and American and British interests.

Al-Qaida has been blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks and the October 2000 USS Cole bombing off Yemen that killed 17 American sailors.