NOTE: The Following Text Is An Exact Quote:
http://travel.state.gov/algeria_warning.html Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Tue Mar 09 2004 13:04:22 GMT-0800.
Algeria
March 8, 2004
This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning dated September 5, 2003, and is being issued to alert Americans to ongoing security concerns in Algeria. Americans are warned to avoid travel to the Sahara desert areas of southeastern Algeria and northeastern Mali, where terrorists held 32 Europeans hostage between February and August.
The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to defer nonessential travel to Algeria and to evaluate carefully their security and safety if they choose to travel. Over the past several months, the city of Algiers and its immediate suburbs have recorded a drop in the number of terrorist-associated incidents. However, there are continued security concerns. Random terrorist attacks still occur in rural and remote areas, on public transportation outside the major cities, and in some parts of the country at night.
In February 2003, 32 Western Europeans were taken hostage by terrorists in the Sahara desert areas of southeastern Algeria, between the cities of Ouargla and Tamanrasset. Fourteen of the hostages were transported by the terrorists into northern Mali. As of August 20, 2003, one had died in captivity, and all others have been released. We continue to caution U.S. citizens to avoid traveling in this area.
The Department of State cautions Americans who reside or travel in Algeria despite this warning to take prudent security measures while in the country, including arranging for pre-determined local contacts to meet and accompany them upon arrival and departure at Algerian airports. Nighttime and overland travel outside the greater Algiers area should be avoided if possible. Visitors to Algeria are advised to stay only in the large, internationally recognized hotels where security is provided. Americans should arrange for a known Algerian companion to accompany them when moving anywhere in Algeria, whether in the capital city of Algiers or in other cities and rural areas.
U.S. Embassy personnel take all of the precautions mentioned above. Embassy employees and official visitors live on or adjacent to the Embassy compound or reside in Embassy-approved hotels. They travel off compound by armored car and, depending on circumstances, may have armed security personnel accompanying them. Employees are permitted to travel outside the capital on private or official business and with appropriate security. U.S. oil companies operating in the desert region south of the Saharan Atlas Mountains, as well as Algerian government officials, also take similar security precautions to ensure their safety.
Americans who remain in Algeria are urged to register and to obtain updated information on travel and security in Algeria at the Consular Section at the U.S. Embassy in Algeria. The Embassy is located at 4 Chemin Cheikh Bachir El-Ibrahimi, B.P. 408 (Alger-Gare) 16000, in the capital city of Algiers. The Embassy can be reached at telephone [213] (21) 691-425/255/186; fax [213] (21) 69-39-79.
For further information on travel to Algeria, please see the Department of State’s Consular Information Sheet on Algeria, the State Department’s World Wide Caution Public Announcement and the Middle East and North Africa Update Public Announcement at
http://travel.state.gov. Return to Consular Information Sheets and Travel Warnings Page
Reports: Bomb Blast in Turkey Kills 2 By JAMES C. HELICKE, Associated Press Writer
ISTANBUL, Turkey - A bomb exploded at a building housing a Masonic lodge Tuesday, killing at least two people and wounding five others, reports said, months after four suicide attacks struck this city.
NTV television said police blamed the attack on a suicide bomber. CNN-Turk said a man chanting, "Allah, Allah," entered the building and detonated a bomb.
Authorities evacuated the building in case a second explosive was inside.
Officials sent ambulances and firefighters to the scene in the residential Kartal district, the Anatolia news agency said. One of the injured was reported in critical condition, television reports said.
The Masons, a secretive society that traces its roots to medieval craft associations, are active in this predominantly Muslim but strictly secular country.
Four suicide attacks against two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank killed 62 people in Istanbul last year. Prosecutors have indicted 69 people suspected of belonging to a local al-Qaida cell in the case. Underground leftist and Kurdish groups also are active in Istanbul.
There are an estimated 5 million to 6 million Masons worldwide, pledged to the principles of brotherliness, charity and mutual aid.
Masonic practices include oath-swearing, rituals and pledges of secrecy, conducted in Masonic temples by officials wearing regalia.
Membership is by invitation, usually limited to professional men and women.