U.S. Issues Worldwide Terrorism Alert, Warns of Hijackings
July 29 (Bloomberg) -- The war in Iraq has heightened the threat of terrorism to U.S. citizens worldwide, including the possibility of hijackings, suicide attacks and kidnappings, the U.S. State Department said.
``Tensions remaining from the recent events in Iraq may increase the potential threat to U.S. citizens and interests abroad,'' the State Department said in an e-mailed statement. ``Terrorist actions may include, but are not limited to, suicide operations, hijackings, bombings or kidnappings. They may also involve commercial aircraft.''
U.S. government offices worldwide may temporarily close or suspend their services as security is assessed in various countries, the statement said. U.S. citizens traveling abroad are advised to take steps to ``increase their security awareness.''
U.S.-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in April after a three-week war. Allied forces in the country have come under increasing attacks in the past month from opponents of the occupation.
The U.S. also issued a worldwide warning that the al-Qaeda terrorist network may try to use a hijacked commercial airliner to commit an attack sometime before September, Cable News Network reported, citing an advisory sent to the aviation community.
The government is examining possible targets on the East Coast of the U.S., and in the U.K., Australia and Italy, the report said.
The group is looking at those areas because of the ``relatively high'' concentration of economic, military and government targets, CNN said, citing the advisory from the Department of Homeland Security.
The hijackings may involve the use of five-man teams that would try to control aircraft on takeoff or landings, so they wouldn't have to have training to fly airplanes, CNN said.
The hijackers may try to convince passengers they are involved in a ``traditional'' hostage situation rather than a terrorist attack and may use common travel items such as cameras that have been modified as weapons.
Last Updated: July 29, 2003 18:44 EDT |
