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U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia issues warning

Senior official: Video could be signal to launch attack

Though a suspect was arrested in last month's bombing at a housing compound in Riyadh, there are new warnings of possible attacks.
Though a suspect was arrested in last month's bombing at a housing compound in Riyadh, there are new warnings of possible attacks.

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(CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, warned Americans in the kingdom Saturday about the threat of terror strikes and placed restrictions on the movements of the diplomatic corps.

Meanwhile Saturday, a senior U.S. official told CNN that a videotape posted late Wednesday on a Web site known to be used by al Qaeda may be a "cue" or a "high-sign" to terrorist cells in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere to go ahead with planned attacks.

The videotape claims to show a cell of terrorists training in an unspecified Arab country. It also contained a previously unknown angle of the two hijacked jetliners hitting the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. (Full story)

The official said the tape's appearance could indicate an attack is imminent.

The embassy warning comes as Saudi authorities disclosed the names of 26 wanted terrorism suspects, and offered rewards for their arrests and the thwarting of terror attacks.

"Effective immediately, travel of Embassy personnel and dependents of the Riyadh Diplomatic Quarter is restricted to essential business only. Similar restrictions will be placed on American personnel and dependents at the Consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran," the embassy said.

A senior State Department official said "given the ongoing concerns" about the security situation in the country, "we thought it was the most prudent thing to do. We are not telling everyone in the country to stay home, but for our people we thought it was a prudent measure and we are telling everyone we are doing this."

Although the official said he didn't know about specific threats to U.S. personnel in Saudi Arabia, he said the U.S. government probably wouldn't say anything about it if there were such threats.

The embassy reiterated an earlier message that the Seder Village housing compound has been under "active surveillance by terrorists" and that Americans "should remain vigilant, particularly in public places associated with the Western community.

"The U.S. government continues to receive indications of terrorist threats aimed at American and Western interests, including the targeting of transportation and civil aviation," the embassy said.

Also Saturday, Saudi authorities posted rewards for information leading to the arrest of the 26 terrorism suspects it named.

The Interior Ministry announcement said 23 are Saudis, two are Moroccans and the other is a Yemeni.

The Saudis are posting a 1 million Saudi riyal ($267,000) reward per suspect, and 5 million riyals ($1.3 million) per cell. A 7 million riyal ($1.9 million) reward is offered for information that disrupts a terror attack.

Police also announced terror-related arrests, including a pair in Taif City, and two others -- one carrying an American passport and another a British passport -- in an undisclosed location.

CNN's Caroline Faraj and Elise Labott contributed to this report.


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