Posted on 04/22/2004 7:12:35 PM PDT by me_newswire
SEOUL, South Korea - A self-proclaimed "anti-American" group is threatening new terrorist attacks against eight U.S. allies in Iraq by the end of the month, including South Korea, Japan, Australia and the Philippines, a South Korean official said Thursday.
(Image-South Korean officials were wearing gas masks as they came out of their office at the government building in Seoul during a civil defence drill against terrorist attacks.-)
The group, called the "Yello-Red Overseas Organization," warned in a one-page letter sent to the South Korean embassy in Thailand that it will launch the attacks through April 30, embassy spokesman Ryoo Jung-young told the Associated Press by telephone.
The group described itself as "anti-American" and threatened to attack diplomatic compounds, airlines and public transportation systems in eight countries: South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Kuwait and Pakistan.
Ryoo said it was the first time South Korean authorities had heard of the group and were investigating the threat's credibility. The embassy notified South Korea's Foreign Ministry, the Thai government and police, he said.
The letter was received Wednesday and security was immediately tightened around the embassy. There are some 50 employees at the South Korean Embassy in Thailand.
It was not immediately clear what precautionary measures South Korea was taking elsewhere.
South Korea plans to send some 3,000 more troops to Iraq, which would make it the biggest coalition partner behind the United States and Britain.
The deployment, pledged earlier this year for the northern Iraq oil town of Kirkuk, was put on hold amid concerns it would involve combat operations in violation of a parliamentary mandate for peacekeeping.
Seoul is now considering two other towns in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq, Sulaimaniyah and Irbil. No timeframe for the new deployment has been announced.
The dispatch was originally scheduled as early as April, but officials say it will be pushed back as the military picks a new site and prepares for the new mission.
Last week, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said mounting violence in Iraq has prompted her government to study whether to withdraw its nearly 100 troops from the Mideast country.
Japan and Australia, which also have troops in Iraq, have pledged to keep them there.
In January, the South Korean Embassy in Bankok received a threatening letter from a group called "Anti-Korean Interest Agency." The letter, which made no mention of the war in Iraq, threatened attacks on South Korean diplomatic missions and businesses in Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Asian countries.
No attacks were made.
WTF??
A terrorist importer/exporter LLC??
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