U.S.

U.S., Israel Wary Of Bin Laden Attack

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 22, 2001 / 4:12 PM EDT / CBS

The U.S. government went on a widespread alert for terrorist attack Friday, with embassies closing, troops moving and a new warning in the works for Americans travelling abroad.

Marine Corps training exercise in Jordan are being cut short and Navy ships have been ordered out of port in Bahrain. Officials say the threat is related to Thursday's Justice Department indictments against 13 Saudis and one Lebanese in connection with 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers apartment complex in Saudi Arabia, in which 19 U.S. airmen died.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer warned Jewish community leaders on Monday that exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden was seeking to recruit local operatives to attack Israeli targets.

The warning followed a report on the Arabic satellite television channel MBC on Saturday that bin Laden's followers were planning a major attack on U.S. and Israeli interests in the next two weeks.

Ben-Eliezer told a Jewish Agency conference in Jerusalem that Bin Laden "is trying very hard to penetrate into the country through local people and through people that he wants to send in different ways to enter Israel to establish an infrastructure here in this country.

"They also plan to attack American and European targets," Ben-Eliezer added.

But a close aide of bin Laden denied there were any plans for strikes.

"The report is baseless," bin Laden deputy Abu Hafas said, according to the Bakhtar news agency.

He said he met the reporter who filed the story, but no such remarks were made by bin Laden's aides.

The Arabic satellite channel Middle East Broadcasting Corp. footage shown Sunday showed a cross-legged bin Laden sitting on a couch along with a companion and MBC reporter Bakr Atyani.

Bin Laden seemed "happy with the talk of his aides, who said that the coming weeks will hold important surprises that will target American and Israeli interests in the world," Atyani said in the report by the London-based, Saudi-owned broadcaster.

The MBC report said bin Laden refused to comment himself because Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia does not allow him to make statements to the media.

Other footage in the report showed bin Laden's followers, dressed in black with their faces covered, performing military training. Atyani said they were in a major state of mobilization.

U.S. Embassy Security

State Department's proposed spending for imprving security at embassies:

$363 million for about 6,000 guards, for maintenance of devices that detect explosives, for metal detectors, X-ray machines and nearly 1,000 armored vehicles.

$211 million to address vulnerabilities in systems and equipment that monitor perimeter areas and control access to U.S. facilities.

$7.2 million for shatter-resistant window film.

$27.4 million for new land that allows for more space between local streets and embassy buildings.

$64 million to reinforce defenses against cyber-terrorism and bolster intelligence efforts.
Source: Associated Press

Over the weekend, the Pentagon placed all land-based installations on the highest state of alert. The air base at Incirlik, Turkey, from which American planes patrol the no fly zone over northern Iraq, has also been put on heightened readiness.

The State Department closed the embassy in Dakar, Senegal early Friday and will close the embassy in Manama, Bahrain on Saturday. Both embassy closures were to allow staff to review their "security posture," officials said.

One State Department official says the U.S. is planning to issue an updated worldwide caution to all American citizens in the wake Thursday's indictments of 13 Saudis and one Lebanese in connection with the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, in which 19 U.S. airmen died.

The latest threat to U.S. installations in the Middle East was first picked up by the National Security Agency, which monitors communications around the world.

Although the threat is not specific about where an attack might occur, it is considered credible, and it is linked to Saudi exile and suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden.

Earlier last week, bin Laden was seen in a recruiting video praising the attack on the Cole, in which 17 sailors died.

Threat Conditions

The U.S. military's THREATCON system identifies five levels of alert:

NORMAL
Condition: Normal terrorism risk.
Response: Regular security procedures.

ALPHA
Condition: A general, unpredictable terrorist threat exists, perhaps because some event has increased chances of terrorism worldwide.
Response: May include reviewing procedures, closing some entrances, checking deliveries.

BRAVO
Condition: An increased, predictable threa is detected, but no specific target is identified.

Response: In addition to Alpha response, troops may be advised to keep a low profile, move vehicles and objects away from key buildings, lock up equipment to deter saboteurs.

CHARLIE
Condition: Major incident occurs or attacks deemed imminent.
Response: Continue Bravo measures, plus reduce entrances to base, require ID checks of all personnel, prohibit wearing uniform off-base, close all but essential entrances.

DELTA
Condition: Indicates that a specific threat against a particular target is imminent.
Response: Maintain Charlie alert, plus identify all vehicles, search briefcases, etc.
(DOD)

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A Pentagon official said it was possible that threat was related to the Khobar indictments.

The level of security for U.S. forces in the Middle East, known as the "threatcon," was raised a notch, the officials said. They would not be more specific.

A contingent of 2,200 Marines operating as an Amphibious Ready Group cut short their training in Jordan, the officials said. The Marines were being taken back aboard their three ships, led by the USS Boxer.

The threat that led to the embassy closings and troop movements is only the latest one detected with links to bin Laden.

On Thursday, Russian security agents warned of a possible threat by bin Laden to make an attempt on President Bush's life at an upcoming summit in Italy.

Earlier this week, authorities in Yemen arrested 15 people, eight of whom were believed connected to a plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa.

That plot came in the wake of guilty verdicts against four men for the bombings of two American embassies in Africa.

Prosecutors said those bombings were directed by bin Laden and officials believe — but cannot prove — he is connected to the Yemen plot as well. The State Department had on June 9 closed the embassy in Sanaa to the public because of a possible threat.

Indian police last week arrested members of a group allegedly linked with bin Laden which police said was planning to bomb U.S. embassies in India and Bangladesh.

In May, the United States issued a global warning against terrorism to Americans travelling abroad, and the Pentagon upgraded security at its naval headquarters in Bahrain and for some of its forces in Kuwait, because of a "reliable and specific threat."