TERROR THREAT PUTS U.S. NAVY'S FIFTH FLEET IN BAHRAIN ON HEIGHTENED ALERT
Geschrieben von Mr. Burns am 31. Mai 2001 17:40:57:
MAY 30, 2001 -- TERROR THREAT PUTS U.S. NAVY'S FIFTH FLEET IN BAHRAIN ON
HEIGHTENED ALERT -- WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. forces in Bahrain are on a higher
state of alert after a weekend threat against potential American targets there,
U.S. officials told CNN. The roughly 1,400 U.S. military personnel in Bahrain
were ordered to move to the Pentagon's second-highest state of alert after "a
specific threat" last weekend, the officials said. That alert level indicates
that "some form of terrorist action is imminent." Bahrain is headquarters for
the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which keeps more than a dozen warships on patrol in
the Persian Gulf. The order, issued over the weekend, moved U.S. forces in
Bahrain to Threat Condition Charlie from Threat Condition Bravo. Officials at
the Pentagon say the heightened alert status was ordered last weekend and is not
related in any way to Tuesday's conviction in a New York court of four
terrorists believed by the United States to be connected to terror suspect Osama
bin Laden. The four were convicted of conspiracy in the 1998 bombings of two
U.S. embassies in East Africa in which 224 people died. U.S. forces in the
Persian Gulf region were ordered to Threat Condition Delta, the highest alert,
after the October terrorist bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port
of Aden. The attack killed 17 U.S. sailors. U.S. personnel in Yemen and other
forces in the region are still at Threat Condition Charlie because of ongoing
threats there.