FBI Director Robert Mueller displays the photos of Badwai, Qussa

WASHINGTON , May 24 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Citing information on imminent attacks, the United States announced Friday, May 23, it has authorized non-essential diplomatic personnel and adult family members to return from Yemen while urging Americans in Morocco to maintain a high level of vigilance against attacks similar in nature to Casablanca bombings.

The measure was announced "effective immediately," a State Department statement said.

"The security threat to all American citizens in Yemen remains high due to credible reports that terrorists have planned attacks against U.S. interests in Yemen ," it said.

"The Department has received credible reports that terrorists have planned attacks against U.S. interests in Yemen . The Department of State anticipates that threats against Americans in Yemen will continue.

"The Department of State continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen . U.S. citizens in Yemen should consider departing," it added.

The United States on Thursday, May 22, charged two fugitive Yemenis allegedly linked to Al-Qaeda for their roles in the bombing of the U.S. warship Cole that killed 17 sailors in Yemen in October 2000.

In the first American charges related to the bombing, Jamal al-Badawi and Fahd al-Qusaa were indicted on a total of 50 counts of various offences, including murder of U.S. nationals and murder of U.S. military personnel.

On October 12, 2000 , a rubber boat laden with explosives ripped through the USS Cole Destroyer, which was in Aden , Yemen , for a refuelling stop.

The mastermind behind the bombing had been identified by Yemeni authorities in February 2001 as Abdul Rahman al-Saafani, a Yemeni citizen.

The United States and Britain decided Tuesday, May 20, to shut their embassies in the Saudi capital Riyadh .

"The embassy continues to receive credible information that further terrorist attacks are being planned against unspecified targets in Saudi Arabia ," the U.S. embassy in Riyadh warned in a notice sent to U.S. citizens in the country.

The move came in the wake of the May 12 triple bombings on expatriate housing compounds in Riyadh that left 34 dead, including eight U.S. citizens.

Vigilance

Washington also said Friday that Moroccan police have reported receiving anonymous threats of terrorist attacks on hotels, nightclubs and restaurants throughout the country, and urged U.S. citizens their to redouble their security.

The State Department, through the U.S. embassy in Rabat , said the threatened attacks were similar in nature to the latest bombings in Casablanca on Friday, May 16, that killed at least 40 people and injured around 60 others, but could not speak to their credibility.

"Moroccan police are receiving anonymous threatening phone calls indicating that hotels, nightclubs and restaurants in Rabat and other cities may be the target of terrorist attacks similar to those that occurred in Casablanca on May 16, 2003," the embassy said in a notice to U.S. citizens in the country.

" U.S. citizens are encouraged to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase their security awareness," it said.

The notice, a copy of which was provided to AFP in Washington by the State Department, said Moroccan authorities were particularly concerned about security over the coming weekend.

In a similar notice issued on Thursday, the embassy reported that a diplomatic license plate with a number similar to those used by U.S. diplomats had been stolen from a European Union vehicle outside the Mandarin Hotel in Rabat .

The theft, it said, coupled with the bombings in Casablanca and other recent events, including the broadcast of an audiotape purported to be from Osama bin Laden's top deputy urging new attacks against U.S. interest, deepened fears of possible imminent strikes.

"Given the report of this stolen plate, the recent attack in Casablanca , the elevated threat level in the United States and around the world and the recent statements purportedly from a senior al Qaeda leader calling for attacks on US diplomatic facilities, American citizens are reminded to remain at a high level of vigilance," it said.