U.S missions say to close in Saudi over threat
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-08-07T155513Z_01_L07597513_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SECURITY-SAUDI-USA-DC.XML
By Dominic Evans
RIYADH (Reuters) - U.S. diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia will be closed on Monday and Tuesday because of a threat against U.S. buildings, the U.S. embassy said on Sunday.
It said the embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in the Red Sea city of Jeddah would be closed on Aug. 8 and 9 "in response to a threat against U.S. government buildings in the kingdom."
The embassy advised U.S. citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to increase security awareness.
Last month, the United States warned Americans in Saudi Arabia that militants were planning fresh attacks in the world's biggest oil exporter, and later banned military personnel from traveling around the kingdom.
But it said it had no specific information about the timing, target or method of any possible attacks.
U.S. diplomatic missions in the kingdom have been closed briefly several times in recent years because of threats of violence against them.
An earlier statement, posted on the U.S. embassy Web site on Saturday, warned of "ongoing security concerns in the region, including for seaborne vessels traveling in the southern Red Sea."
Al Qaeda-linked militants have waged a bombing campaign in the kingdom since 2003 to expel Westerners from Islam's birthplace and destabilize the pro-Western royal family.
The violence has killed at least 91 foreign nationals and Saudi civilians, 41 security force members and 112 militants.
In 2003 suicide bombers hit several compounds housing foreigners, and last year gunmen made a series of attacks on Westerners, including a daylight raid on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah.
King Abdullah, who came to the throne this month after King Fahd died, is expected to continue the government crackdown on militants, which analysts say has already eroded al Qaeda's network in Saudi Arabia.
Authorities have killed or arrested all but three men on a list of 26 most wanted suspects published in 2003. In June officials issued a list of 36 more wanted men they are still hunting.
New CIA unit to dig into public materials
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20050807-11251900-bc-us-opensource.xml
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The CIA reportedly plans to expand a wing that currently translates foreign language broadcasts and documents to include a wide variety of data mining.
ime magazine says Director Porter Goss will launch the unit by Oct. 1.
The "open source" unit will search through public data such as research articles, Web sites and phone books in order to better investigate suspects.
What looks like a $100 million budget for the expanded unit will be monitored by the Director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte.
Critics of the CIA welcome the move, saying the agency has been too reliant on secret operation reports and failed to see the benefit of searching through open source items like the speeches of fundamentalists, Time said.
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