US issues Baltic terror warning

In a rare warning to Americans living or travelling in the Nordic and Baltic region, United States embassies in the area said they had received ”threat information” and warned them to be cautious.

“The US Department of State wishes to alert US citizens … (and) urges all US citizens in the Nordic and Baltic countries to be vigilant as to their surroundings, especially in centres of ground-based mass transit, and to report any unusual or suspicious persons, incidents or circumstances to the nearest police authorities,” the Embassy’s web site in Helsinki said.

The warning gave no other details.

“The information is as specific as we can make it at this time. If we had more specific information for American citizens, we would of course release it,” embassy spokeswoman Victoria Middleton said today.

The US State Department’s warden message coincided with an announcement by Latvia’s security service that it had received intelligence reports from Norway, Estonia and the United States of a possible terrorist strike against the small Baltic nation.

In an online message in the Latvian capital, Riga, the US Embassy urged American citizens “to avoid large shopping areas and transportation hubs on or about November 1, 2004”.

Latvian officials said the US National Security Council, including the president and prime minister, will meet later today to discuss the terror warning.

The Finnish Security Police said security will be increased at the US Embassy in Helsinki, but that Nordic citizens had nothing to worry about.

“The United States has a lower threshold when it comes to warning its citizens, but we have no concrete information that would warrant such a warning,” said Paavo Selin, head of Finland’s counter-terrorism unit.

Norway closed its embassy in Riga, Latvia, because of the warning, the Norwegian news agency NTB reported.