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U.S. warns of possible terrorism in KenyaState Department will let nonessential personnel leave
From Elise Labott
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The State Department will allow nonessential personnel and families of U.S. diplomats to leave Kenya, a senior department official told CNN on Friday. The official said there was no information about a specific threat but that "there are indications of planning for attacks in Kenya and East Africa. "I can't tell you there is information that they are going to bomb the U.S. Embassy tomorrow," the official said. "But we have been monitoring threats in Kenya for some time, and we just believe it is prudent to let the people who want to, leave, given the nature of the threat." The State Department urged Americans this week to defer nonessential travel to Kenya because of the threat of terrorist attacks there. U.S. citizens in the country were warned to "remain vigilant," particularly in public places, and to avoid travel to coastal areas. Terrorists might try to target commercial aircraft with shoulder-fired missiles, according to a travel warning issued Wednesday. "The government of Kenya might not be able to prevent such attacks," the statement said. "Terrorist actions may include suicide operations, bombings or kidnappings." The British government took the unusual move Wednesday of grounding flights from the United Kingdom to Kenya. On Friday, the Foreign Office revised its travel advice for six east African countries, warning of a "clear terrorist threat" in the region. (Full story) The British based the decision on intelligence from the Kenyan government that terrorists, believed to be al Qaeda, were planning an attack in East Africa. Al Qaeda is suspected of having been involved in a car bombing in November at a hotel in Mombasa in which 13 people were killed. In an almost simultaneous attack, two missiles were fired at an Israeli charter jet, narrowly missing the target. The senior State Department official said that though the epicenter of the terrorist threats are in Kenya, the United States was also concerned about threats in the Horn of Africa -- Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and Ethiopia. U.S.: Terrorists 'active in East Africa'In a separate warning for other parts of East Africa issued Wednesday, the State Department said members of al Qaeda and other extremist groups "are active in East Africa" and that there is a "credible threat" of terrorist attacks in the region. Increased security at official U.S. facilities might lead terrorists "to seek softer targets such as residential areas, clubs, restaurants, American commercial interests, places of worship, hotels, schools, outdoor recreation events, resorts, beaches and planes," the travel warning said. In the wake of the attacks on expatriate housing compounds Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a U.S. official told CNN on Friday, "It is starting to feel a lot like the summer of 2001," when the U.S. intelligence community was "hearing a lot of chatter about a big attack" ahead of September 11. He added, "It's a scary time. "There is a surprising level in al Qaeda communication, and we are learning a lot more about al Qaeda and the potential links to cells out there that we didn't know previously existed," the official said. Although attacks could come anywhere, the main areas of concern are East Asia -- particularly Indonesia and Malaysia -- as well as East Africa and the Persian Gulf region, the official said. In a separate warning for Malaysia on Wednesday, the State Department cautioned Americans in the eastern state of Sabah to use extreme caution because of the threat of attacks from Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group based in the nearby Philippines. (Full story) The State Department also warned that attacks similar to the October terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia, might occur in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian nations. The Bali attack is believed to have been the work of Jemaah Islamyia, an al Qaeda-linked group with cells throughout Southeast Asia.
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