Australian gov't warns of potential UAE terror strike
by This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Friday, 03 October 2008
The Australian government has issued a statement warning of a possible terrorist attack in the UAE in early October.
The government’s department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has amended its travel advice for the UAE, advising of potential terrorist attacks “on or around October 1”.
According the department's website, the travel advice was last updated on October 2, but it is unclear when the warning was first issued.
The statement says “new information” has seen its travel advice reviewed and reissued, although its official warning is still only for travellers to ‘exercise a high degree of caution’.
“Information suggests that terrorists may be planning attacks against a range of targets, possibly on the Arabian Peninsula and in Jordan, to coincide with Eid el Fitr on or around 1 October 2008.
“We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in the United Arab Emirates because of the high threat of terrorist attack,” the statement says.
The website says the countries at risk include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
“The terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda continues to publicly threaten to attack Westerners in the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. Terrorists have attacked Westerners in this region. Further attacks against targets in the Arabian Peninsula, including the UAE, cannot be ruled out."
Threats by international terrorist groups include references to residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests, and commercial and public areas frequented by Westerners are possible targets, the statement warns.
In June, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) upgraded its UAE terrorism threat level from 'general' to 'high' and the US also warned its citizens about the potential danger of attacks in the emirates.
Despite the fresh warnings, excluding Saudi Arabia, terrorist attacks in the Gulf are rare.
According to the FCO, the only incident of note was a suicide-bomb attack on March 19, 2005 outside the Doha Players’ Theatre in Qatar.
One British national was killed and at least 12 other people were injured.
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