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The U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo reopened Monday after shutting down for four days amid fears that al-Qaida terrorists were planning a major attack on Americans in Bosnia.
"We have decided to reopen and we are working as normal, but we constantly assess the security situation," said embassy spokeswoman Karen Williams.
The embassy had closed to the public Wednesday, saying it had received word of a possible terrorist threat, and on Friday it shut down entirely. It was the second time the mission has shut its doors since the September 11 attacks.
The Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz reported on Saturday that the embassy was closed because of an intelligence report that Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization was planning attacks in Sarajevo.
The daily quoted an unnamed government official as saying members of the group met in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia to discuss European targets.
Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said Monday that authorities are scouring the country for al-Qaida members. "The U.S. Embassy has handed to Bulgaria a list of suspected al-Qaida members on whom a detailed check will be carried out," the ministry said. It did not name those on the list.
Rasim Kadic, a member of the Bosnian government's anti-terrorism team, said his panel held an emergency meeting last week to discuss the threat of large-scale anti-American attacks. He said Bosnian and U.S. authorities had identified as "credible and serious."
Prime Minister Alija Behmen of the Croat-Muslim federation that makes up half of Bosnia subsequently met with U.S. Ambassador Clifford Bond, and the federation government held a special session last week to discuss measures to respond to the threat.
Last Tuesday - a day before the U.S. Embassy closed to the public - Bosnian police raided an Islamic charity, Bosnian Ideal Future, also known as Benevolentia International Foundation, seizing weapons, plans for making bombs, booby-traps and bogus passports.
On Friday, police said they had arrested Munib Zahiragic, a Bosnian citizen and the head of the Bosnian chapter of the charity. Zahiragic is also a former member of the Bosnian Muslim secret police agency, AID.
Zahiragic was arrested on suspicion of espionage, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Police did not say what country he was accused of spying for.
Officials at the Pentagon said over the weekend that they had no information about a specific al-Qaida threat in Bosnia.
U.S. missions around the world are on guard following several attacks and suspected plots against U.S. interests.