The color-coded terror threat warning system has five levels. It was previously set at "yellow," the third-highest level, signifying the threat is "elevated." The increase to "orange," or "high," is the fourth time the level has been raised since the system was introduced last year.
The threat level was last raised on March 17, moments after Bush gave then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein 48 hours to capitulate or face war. The alert level was returned to yellow on April 16 when officials said major combat operations in Iraq had come to an end.
The latest increase follows two - apparently coordinated - series of terror attacks in the Arab world last week.
Three suicide bombings of U.S. targets in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killed 34 people including the nine attackers on May 12. On Friday, a similar series of bombings aimed at Western and Jewish targets in Casablanca, Morocco, left 28 dead.
But officials say they are concerned about broader threats.
"We have concerns about whether or not there are threats that go beyond Saudi Arabia," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters earlier.
Over the weekend, the FBI issued an intelligence bulletin to local law enforcement agencies warning that further attacks against U.S. interests, perhaps in the United States itself, were possible.
FBI spokesman Bill Carter said, "The May 12 bombing in Saudi Arabia indicates that al-Qaida is still active. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that attacks overseas are likely, and attacks in the United States cannot be ruled out."
He added there was no specific intelligence threat of an attack in the United States.
Also Tuesday, officials announced the closure of the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran, until at least next Sunday, because of what the U.S. State Department called "credible information that further terrorist attacks are being planned against unspecified targets," in the kingdom.
British authorities also announced the closure of their embassy.
One private sector counter-terrorism analyst who consults for U.S. government agencies told United Press International on condition of anonymity it was significant the two series of attacks in two different countries appeared to have been timed to coincide as closely as possible.
"That suggests there's still a global command structure in place, someone coordinating between the cells in different countries," the analyst said.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
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