News, December 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
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UK warns of possible `terror' attack in S. Arabia
Jordan Times, Monday, December 29, 2003
LONDON (AFP) — A "terrorist" attack could be in the final stages of preparation in Saudi Arabia, the British government warned Sunday, in the latest of a spate of alerts over travel to the oil-rich kingdom. "Following terrorist attacks in Riyadh in May and November, we continue to believe terrorists are planning further attacks in Saudi Arabia, and that these could be in the final stages of preparation," the Foreign Office said.
"We advise British nationals against all but essential travel to Saudi Arabia," it added in a travel advisory posted on its website.
A Foreign Office spokesman declined to give further information on the new warning, saying only that travel advice was kept under constant review based on all the information available.
Saudi authorities and foreign embassies in the kingdom have been on heightened alert since the May 12 and Nov. 8 attacks on residential compounds in Riyadh that killed a total of 52 people.
The travel warning also comes as governments across the world are stepping up precautions against the threat of terrorist attacks.
Six Air France flights were cancelled over the Christmas period at the request of Washington due to fears that the planes could be used as weapons against US targets, while the United States lifted its nationwide terrorism alert level from "elevated" to "high" on Dec. 21.
The latest Foreign Office alert of an imminent threat in Saudi is stronger than its warning of Nov. 29, which merely said that further attacks were being planned in the kingdom.
Britain first issued its travel warning for Saudi Arabia in October, prompting Saudi Arabia's ambassador to London to sharply rebuke London for not consulting his country before issuing the alert.
United States has issued similar alerts to Britain, allowing its non-essential diplomats to leave Saudi Arabia and advising US citizens in the country to also consider leaving.
That warning on December 17 came after US diplomats in Riyadh were ordered not to venture outside of the capital's diplomatic quarters except on "essential business."
The Saudi authorities have launched a massive crackdown in the wake of this year's deadly attacks following accusations they were not doing enough to crack down on militants.
Hundreds of suspected militants have been rounded up and massive financial rewards offered for information leading to the capture of terror suspects.
Sunday's warning by the Foreign Office followed a British press report, denied by Saudi authorities, that extremists were planning to attack a British airliner in Riyadh.
London also announced Sunday it is to deploy armed sky marshalls on British passenger planes in response to the heightened state of alert in the United States.
British Airways suspended flights to Saudi Arabia in mid-August after the British government warned it had received a serious threat about air travel in the country, but resumed them in September.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
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