LONDON (Reuters) – The government says an “international
terrorist group” might be planning to carry out an attack on the
Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, and warns visitors to be careful.
“We have received information that an international
terrorist group may be planning an attack on the island of Zanzibar,”
a Foreign Office spokeswoman told Reuters.
“British nationals in Tanzania and especially in
Zanzibar should be particularly vigilant in public places frequented by
foreigners such as hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, markets, bars
and nightclubs.”
She did not specify what the threat was or what organisation
was believed to be involved, and said Britain was not advising its nationals
to leave Tanzania.
The warning follows a similar message from the United
States last week warning its citizens to be on alert in public places
on the predominantly Muslim island that is popular with tourists.
In December, Australia also advised its nationals to exercise
“extreme caution” in Tanzania, especially in Zanzibar.
The alert comes less than two months after suicide bombers
killed 12 people in a blast at an Israeli-owned hotel in neighbouring
Kenya.
Minutes before that blast, two missiles were fired at
an Israeli airliner carrying 261 passengers as it took off from Kenya's
Mombassa airport.
“We believe that Tanzania, including the Zanzibar
and Pemba islands, is one of a number of countries in East Africa and
the Horn of Africa where there may be an increased terrorist threat,”
the Foreign Office spokeswoman said.
British authorities have been criticised in the past from
some quarters for not going public quickly enough on possible terror threats
their intelligence services hear about. But Prime Minister Tony Blair's
government says it is a hard balance between keeping the public informed
but not provoking panic given the flood of information on international
terror activities received in London on a near-daily basis.
Source: yahoo.co.uk forwarded by Kevin Brackley, the Globetrotter
Membership Secretary
