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U.S.
Yemeni Authorities on Alert for Possible Tuesday Attack
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U.S.
security forces on high alert anticipating terror attacks |
With additional reporting by S.M. Khalid
WASHINGTON,
Feb. 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) has alerted the general public and state and local law
enforcement agencies of another possible attack in the United States or against
American interests in Yemen.
The
FBI identified a 22-year-old Yemeni national, Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeei, as one of
the possible attackers.
Al-Rabeei's
photograph and those of 12 other men believed involved in planning the alleged
attack have been posted on the FBI's website and distributed to more than 18,000
law enforcement agency offices and police departments across the country.
"Recent
information indicates a planned attack may occur in the United States or against
U.S. interests on or around Feb. 12, 2002. One or more operatives may be
involved in the attack," the FBI said.
Authorities
have been ordered to immediately detain al-Rabeei, whom the FBI says
"should be considered extremely dangerous.”
The
FBI's alert listed about a dozen associates of al-Rabeei, most from Saudi Arabia
and Yemen. One associate was listed as possibly coming from Tunisia. Officials
acknowledged they did not know whether al-Rabeei was in the United States and
could not be sure even that he was still alive.
The
alert did not say whether the attack was planned by or involved Osama bin
Laden's al-Qaeda network.
The
general alert, the fourth such warning since the deadly September 11 attacks on
New York and outside Washington, D.C., was announced Monday. No specific targets
were mentioned.
"We
have a very flawed system of general alerts," said Neil Livingstone, a
counter-terrorism expert and executive of GlobalOptions, a Washington-based
security firm. "It creates a lot of uncertainty and unease among the
general public. They know there's not much they can do and it frightens
them."
Livingstone
said the most important issue was where the alerts originated. He mentioned that
shortly before the 1989 bombing of the Pan-Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland,
the U.S. State Department had received information of a possible attack and
warned its employees against traveling to Frankfurt and London.
Washington
was later criticized for not issuing a general warning to the public.
Officials
said the warning was the result of credible information about a possible attack
developed in Afghanistan and reportedly corroborated in interviews with al-Qaeda
and Taliban members being detained at "Camp X-Ray" at the U.S. Naval
Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Livingstone
cautioned that while he and other analysts believe that the ability of the
al-Qaeda network has been considerably weakened by the U.S.-led war on
terrorism, "we're still under a very serious threat."
In
Salt Lake City, where the Winter Olympics are being held, already heavy security
was tightened around the airport and checkpoints.
The
White House said President George W. Bush spoke Monday by telephone to his
Yemeni counterpart, Ali Abdullah Saleh. Bush praised Sanaa for its "recent
efforts to deny terrorists the use of Yemeni territory."
"The
two agreed on the need for a sustained effort and continued cooperation in the
fight against the terrorists," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
In
Yemen, an Interior Ministry official said Yemeni authorities were attempting to
gather information on al-Rabeei and about a dozen associates at the request of
U.S. authorities.
The
state news agency Saba quoted a government official saying Yemen had been warned
al-Rabeei might try to enter the country from Afghanistan to attack U.S.
interests.
Yemen
said Tuesday it has taken all "necessary steps" to prevent a terrorist
attack following a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warning that a Yemeni
national could be planning a strike on U.S. interests.
"Security
services have taken all necessary security steps to prevent any act harming
security and stability," a security spokesman told the official SABA news
agency. "We have taken these threats seriously. We are not unduly worried,
but we have taken, all the same, precautionary steps to boost security of U.S.
interests."
A
security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agence France-Presse
that Yemeni authorities recently arrested a brother of the suspect, who had also
been to Afghanistan, while a second brother, Sulaiman, was one of the al-Qaeda
members held in Guantanamo Bay.
The
official said Fawaz al-Rabeei was born in 1979 and considered close to Bin
Laden. He left Yemen before September 11 for Germany and from there traveled to
Afghanistan.
The
commander in charge of the war, General Tommy Franks, was in Yemen on Monday and
discussed military and security matters with President Saleh. Franks said there
was no expectation of putting U.S. troops on the ground in Yemen, where
suspected al-Qaeda members may be hiding.
Franks
later told reporters that Washington planned to "provide training and
support for Yemen's special forces in their battle to combat terrorism."
Despite
the reported threat, the U.S. embassy in Sanaa remained open on Tuesday and
consular services continued as usual, according to an embassy official.
"The
situation is very normal," the official, requesting anonymity, told AFP.
Roads
leading to the embassy were closed and three police vehicles were stationed at
the entrance to the heavily fortified mission.
Security
around the embassy had already been stepped up as of mid-January following
anonymous "terror threats" that prompted the mission to shut its doors
for several days.
Yemen
and the United States have stepped up cooperation in recent months.
But
U.S. suspicions about Sanaa's perceived reluctance to share information on the
USS Cole bombing, which killed 17 American sailors in the southern Yemeni port
of Aden in October 2000, continue to strain ties.
The
United States has called Bin Laden a key suspect in the Cole bombing. Yemen in
December began a hunt for suspects linked to him.
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