Terrorism Concerns Prompt U.S. to Order Jordan, Sudan Evacuation : Mideast: Non-essential personnel and dependents are told to leave. Travelers urged to depart ‘before Jan. 15.’

The State Department on Wednesday ordered the evacuation of non-essential U.S. personnel and dependents from Jordan and Sudan and urged other Americans to leave those nations amid heightened concern about possible terrorist attacks tied to the Persian Gulf crisis.

The government encouraged Americans traveling in the two countries to depart “as soon as possible and well before Jan. 15,” the deadline imposed by the U.N. Security Council for Iraq to withdraw its forces from Kuwait.

The action brings to eight the number of Middle East and North African nations from which Americans are being withdrawn. The Bush Administration is trying to reduce the number of U.S. citizens who could become hostages, terrorist targets or victims of mob violence in the event of war with Iraq.

Shortly after Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait, the Administration began withdrawing U.S. civilian personnel from Yemen, whose government has supported Iraq. On Dec. 15, the State Department added the North African nation of Mauritania, another Iraqi ally, to the list.

In addition, the government has authorized dependents of U.S. personnel in four Persian Gulf nations--Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates--to leave if they wish. All four nations could become targets of Iraqi attacks in the event of war.

Underlining the Administration’s concern about terrorism, a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon threatened suicide attacks against U.S. targets worldwide if there is a military offensive against Iraq.

“American interests in the world will be targeted and suicidal attacks will be launched in and outside the gulf and Palestine,” Zeid Wehbeh, a PLO representative in Lebanon, said in an interview broadcast by a Lebanese radio station.

It could not be determined immediately which faction of the PLO, if any, Wehbeh represents, U.S. officials said, but threats against U.S. citizens and interests in the Middle East have been a staple of statements from Iraq and its allies since the Persian Gulf crisis began.

Bush Administration officials, although relieved by the release of Americans held hostage in Iraq itself, remain worried about the threat posed to hundreds of civilian government employees and thousands of non-governmental travelers, both tourists and business people, in the region.

Americans could become targets of specific terrorist attacks or could be injured by mobs as war tensions rise, officials have warned, noting that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein remains popular in many Arab nations.

Hussein’s popularity has been particularly high in Jordan. Wednesday’s advisory warned that “American citizens should defer all travel” to that country, and that those already there “who do not have essential reason for staying should plan to depart the country as soon as possible and well before Jan. 15.”

The State Department used similar language about Sudan, a predominantly Arab country that has generally supported Iraq and where continued civil war has posed additional dangers to foreign travelers.

Meanwhile, as the U.S. military deployment in the gulf continues to grow, the Navy said that the aircraft carriers America and Theodore Roosevelt will leave Norfolk, Va., en route to the Middle East on Friday. The two carriers and their accompanying escort ships will add to a U.S. armada that already includes four carrier battle groups.

And in Washington, a senior congressional Democrat accused the Administration of not being “tough enough or strong enough in asking the allies to do their part” in paying for the deployment.

The allies have become used to saying “ ‘Let America do it,’ and not worry about cooperating or helping,” said House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.). “I think those days have ended, and we’ve got to get the allies to simply come into the modern age,” Gephardt said during an interview on NBC’s “Today” television show.

The Administration estimates that the United States has spent roughly $6.5 billion on the gulf deployment and that eventual costs could be more than four times that amount. According to the Pentagon, Saudi Arabia has reimbursed the United States about $1 billion, most of it in cash. Other U.S. allies have pledged several billion dollars in aid, but much of the money has not yet been delivered, U.S. officials said.