Britain tightens security against potential terror
LONDON, May 24 -- Britain is stepping up security measures to combat potential terrorist attacks on its soil, The Times newspaper reported Saturday. Concrete barriers like those installed Friday outside the Houses of Parliament to deter terrorists would soon be put in place at other key landmarks in London, the newspaper said.
"All picture-postcard sites in London are clearly something that could be of interest to terrorists. While there is no imminent threat we know of, the belief is that it is only a matterof time before something happens here," a senior government sourcewas quoted as saying on condition of anonymity.
Security has also been reinforced at the entrance to Downing Street where British Prime Minister Tony Blair's office is locatedand Horse Guards Parade has also been sealed off to tourists, the paper said. Undercover police squads in the capital have been toldthey can shoot to kill if they believe a suspect is about to trigger a suicide attack, the paper added.
The Metropolitan Police did not confirm the claims, "except to say that we have all sorts of contingency plans to deal with the current security alert," the BBC News On-line quoted a local police spokesman as saying.
According to The Times, Britain's anti-terror measures were being increased following a meeting this week between Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of Britain's MI5, the domestic Security Service, and George Tenet, director of the US Central IntelligenceAgency (CIA).
They were believed to have discussed the heightened threat of terrorism from the al Qaeda network.
British police and political leaders emphasized late Friday that they had uncovered no specific threats against London, but the wave of bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia and the threatening message from a leading al Qaeda figure this week prompted an urgent reassessment of security in the capital.
A new taped message purported to be from the al Qaeda network said Britain, the United States, Australia and Norway would be thetargets of new attacks.
In the past few weeks, terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco have raised fears that al Qaeda has regrouped and is againplanning to strike Western targets. Britain is on the second-highest alert, the paper said, adding that it would move to the top alert if there was specific intelligence about a time, place and target of terror attacks.
US Embassy, Consulates to Reopen Today
WASHINGTON, 25 May 2003 — The US Embassy and consulates in the Kingdom, closed to the public this week due to fears of an imminent terrorist attack, will reopen today, the State Department said yesterday. However, the department said the security situation was still uncertain and that US citizens should remain extremely vigilant.
In addition, the embassy said the travel of US diplomats at the embassy in Riyadh as well as the consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran would continue to be restricted.
“The embassy wishes to advise the American community that the embassy and the consulates general will reopen for public business on Sunday, May 25, 2003,” it said in a notice to Americans in the Kingdom.
“Mission personnel continue to restrict their travel outside the Riyadh diplomatic quarter and their housing in Jeddah and Dhahran to essential official and personal business,” it said.Meanwhile, the British Embassy in Riyadh reopened yesterday, the Foreign Office in London announced.
UN should take up core function in Iraq: Iranian FM
TEHRAN, May 24 -- Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said on Saturday the United Nations must take up a core function in Iraq. In a meeting with his visiting Polish counterpart Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Kharrazi said, "Tehran believes the formation of a democratic government, representing people's votes and their complete participation, which guarantees good neighborly relations and respects Iraq's agreements with and commitments to its neighbors, will steer this volatile region towards peace." "Respecting the Iraqi people's will and helping on the realization of their demands is key to forming a stable Iraq in the region," he added.
The Iranian minister warned that "forming government entails a complicated process which is not comparable with the elimination ofthe former Iraqi regime". On his part, Wlodzimierz described Iran's role in the region, especially concerning Iraq, as "important".
The United States and Britain have asked Poland to participate in the so-called "stabilization force" in Iraq and Poland is reportedly to sent about 2,000 soldiers to that country. Wlodzimierz arrived in Tehran on Saturday afternoon for a one-day visit. During a meeting with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami earlierin the day, Khatami said the Iraqi people should be helped to decide their own fate and form a popular government in their country.
BAGHDAD, May 24 -- Iraq's oil export was expected to resume "within three weeks" and crude production would double in a few weeks, the acting Iraqi oil minister said on Saturday. "Within three weeks we will be exporting," Thamer al-Ghadhban told reporters at a press conference in Baghdad.
"We hope in two weeks time we will be in the market," he added. The current daily production of oil in Iraq was 700,000 barrels and Ghadhban predicted the figure would double in a few weeks. "It is a matter of a few weeks, and we can reach 1.3 or 1.5 million barrels a day," Ghadhban said. But that would be only half of the prewar production, which was about 3 million barrels a day.
The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to lift the crippling 13-year-old sanctions imposed on the country and phase out the UN-run oil-for-food program over a six-month period. The Security Council resolution hands the US-British occupying authority the power to help establish a new Iraqi government and control the use of the nation's oil revenues. The United States has said it wants to use oil profits to fund the country's reconstruction.
Israeli troops kill 3 Palestinians in Gaza Strip
GAZA, May 24 -- Israeli troops Saturday shot dead three Palestinian militants who were trying to infiltrate into Jewish settlements to carry out armed attacks, Israel Radio reported. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli troops stationed near the eastern border between Israel and Gaza Strip shot dead a Palestinian who walked near the fence of the border.
According to Israel Radio, the man is a militant and he was killed after Israeli troops fired a tank shell and several gunshots at him. Palestinian security sources said they found the body of a Palestinian militant north of the village of Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza Strip. Palestinian farmers found his body, picked it up and took it to the hospital, the sources said, adding that the man was apparently killed by Israeli soldiers.
On Saturday afternoon, a Palestinian public security spokesman said Israeli soldiers stationed near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, east of the town of Deir El Ballah in central Gaza Strip, shot dead a third Palestinian. A Palestinian militant was seen trying to infiltrate into the settlement, Israel Radio reported, adding that the soldiers had immediately opened fire and shot him dead.
According to Israel Radio, the bodies of the three Palestinian militants were handed over to the Palestinian side. No one claimed responsibility for their attempts to infiltrate into settlements.
