U.S. Forces on Heightened Alert

U.S. military forces in the Gulf stepped up to a higher state of alert against attack by radicals, a U.S. Navy spokesman said. Shore leave for the 12,000 U.S. sailors in the Gulf was restricted, and clubs, bars and restaurants in the island state of Bahrain, headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet, were placed off limits until further notice. The U.S. Embassy in the Bahraini capital, Manama, issued a security alert on its hotline recommending that U.S. civilians also avoid those places. Western official said there had been a series of reports of possible terrorist threats to U.S. military forces in the region, including Bahrain.