The United States has warned U.S. citizens in Bahrain about a “terrorist” threat in the Gulf Arab state during the Christmas holiday, the U.S. embassy in Bahrain said on Tuesday.
The warning in pro-Western Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, comes amid a heightened state of alert in the United States ahead of Christmas.
“The United States Government has received terrorist threat information specific to Bahrain. This information covers the timeframe of the holiday season, from now through January 2, 2004,” the embassy said on its Web site.
“During this time, the U.S. Embassy in Manama encourages all American citizens to avoid places where Westerners are known to congregate and to reduce unnecessary travel,” it said, adding the embassy was seeking more information on the threat.
Last month the British Embassy in Bahrain warned its citizens there was a high threat of “terrorist” attacks against Western targets.
Bahrain witnessed anti-U.S. protests in the run-up to the U.S.-led war on Iraq which toppled Saddam Hussein this year, but there have been few attacks on Westerners in the island state.
The U.S. government raised its terror alert to the second highest level on Sunday and warned Americans there was a high risk of attacks around the holidays in the United States that could be bigger than those of Sept. 11, 2001.
Earlier this month the United States offered free flights home to non-essential diplomats and their families in Saudi Arabia because of security concerns.
Analysts say Islamic militants connected to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network are targeting the gulf region, the birthplace of Islam and home to a number of oil-rich U.S.-allies.