Fourteen terrorist suspects arrested in Britain

by KATE KELLAND and DOMINIC EVANS


British anti-terror police arrested 14 people yesterday as the United States warned of possible attacks in Saudi Arabia and Kenya, in actions which highlighted a persistent global threat to Western interests.

In Riyadh, where suspected al Qaeda bombers killed at least 18 people last month, the US and British embassies said more attacks may be planned after authorities foiled a massive car bombing a week ago.

US and German authorities also warned their nationals to stay away from the centre of the Kenyan capital Nairobi over the next few days in response to "indications of a terror threat".

The warnings were made as British anti-terror police said they had arrested four people in pre-dawn raids in London, six people in Cambridge and four near Birmingham.

Sources said the London arrests were linked to international terrorism.

Police continue to quiz a suspected potential suicide bomber arrested in Gloucester on Friday where explosives were found in the house where he was seized.

Britain has been on its second highest security alert for two weeks after intelligence officials said they had information an attack was planned, without specifying any target.

In Riyadh, members of a suspected al Qaeda cell that plotted a foiled car bombing last week were planning to kill senior members of the Saudi royal family and also had staked out a Western-style residential compound, according to US and Saudi intelligence officials.

The disclosures came amid new fears of terrorist violence in Saudi Arabia.

US Embassy officials warned yesterday that the Seder Village residential compound in eastern Riyadh remained a target.

Saudi security forces uncovered a videotape of the compound after a raid on November 25 that disrupted the car-bombing plot.

US and Saudi intelligence officials stressed that the targets of the attack were top members of the Saudi monarchy - not the compound.

Militants had rigged a disguised truck with 900kg of explosives before security forces stormed their rented hideout. Two suspects were killed but others escaped.

Neither Saudi nor US officials publicly acknowledged that the attack was aimed at Saudi Arabia's senior leadership, although al Qaeda repeatedly has declared the overthrow of the monarchy a top priority of its six-month-old terrorism campaign in Saudi Arabia.

The US embassy said the compound had been under "active surveillance by terrorist elements" and other Western compounds may also be targeted. As a result, it was stopping its American staff visiting compounds in Riyadh at night.

Britain's embassy in Riyadh issued a warning that there was a "continuing high threat of terrorism in Saudi Arabia" and it believed militants planned more bombings. "The threat includes, but is not limited to, residential compounds," it said.

Saudi Arabia has cracked down on militants since suicide bombings killed 35 people in Riyadh in May, including nine Americans. Officials blamed those bombings and last month's attack on Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

In Nairobi, where 214 people were killed in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy, the United States advised its citizens to stay away from the town centre in the next few days in response to an anonymous warning.

Germany's Foreign Ministry advised travellers to postpone visits to Nairobi, saying there were "indications that a terror attack was planned against Western hotels in Nairobi and possibly other Western targets".

Police searched several buildings and hotels after receiving threats but no bombs were found.

Attack warnings

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

* US and Britain say more bombings are planned.

* Threat not limited to residential compounds.

Nairobi, Kenya:

* Germany says postpone visits because an attack is planned on Western hotels.

* US warns its citizens to stay out of the city centre.

- REUTERS