State Dept. Will Issue Alert for Americans Traveling Overseas

With the hostilities in the Middle East raising concerns about a renewed wave of terrorism, the State Department is preparing to issue a travel advisory warning Americans of the possibility of attacks against U.S. interests overseas, a department source said Thursday.

“We have no information about specific threats as yet,” the official said. “But there is concern that the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait may raise the risk of terrorist incidents directed against American interests overseas.”

Even without official warning, vacationers and business travelers already were jittery about international travel, which is at a seasonal high.

Travelers who are going nowhere near the Middle East are concerned, said Gloria Glickenhaus, a travel agent on Long Island in New York state. “My clients are nervous,” she said. “They’re going, but they’re uneasy about the flights.”

Kim Doster, an agent in Washington, said that at least five of her clients traveling to Asia have changed their flights so that they travel over the Pacific Ocean, rather than through the Middle East. “They’re calling and double-checking that their airlines aren’t stopping anywhere near the Middle East,” Doster added.

And Gitta Waldbaum of Brendan Tours in Van Nuys said that several of her customers scheduled to travel to Egypt and Turkey have switched to other destinations.

Thus far, however, airlines say that they are seeing no drop in the number of passengers they are ferrying across the oceans.

Pan American is the only U.S. airline flying regularly into Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where U.S. forces have been sent.

“The flights are full and operating normally,” said Pan Am spokesman Alan Loflin. He added that the Saudi government has closed one air route over the country, diverting flights from areas considered most likely to be the scene of fighting.

American Airlines spokeswoman Mary O’Neill said that her company is augmenting its usual security procedures with reminders urging airline personnel to be alert and extra-cautious.

Such concern was echoed by counterterrorism experts, who said that more incidents may be expected worldwide, regardless of how the conflict with Iraq turns out.

“I think we are in for protracted trouble. . . . American interests in the Middle East are likely targets, but Europe--and especially American interests in Europe--are also likely targets” of Iraqi-sponsored or inspired attacks, said Robert Kupperman, a counterterrorism expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Neil Livingstone of Georgetown University agreed. “The good news is we may stop (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein, roll him back and put him in his place.

“But the bad news is it will have consequences, including increases in terrorism and a general radicalization in the Middle East,” Livingstone said. “Everyone involved in this is going to have to pay a price.”