By Robert Windrem, NBC News Producer
U.S. counter terrorism officials say the alerts issued this week for U.S. and British citizens in the United Arab Emirates should be taken “very seriously.”
“It’s not something to take lightly, it’s worth paying attention to,” said one U.S. official. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it will come to fruition, but do note that [the U.A.E] is not a government that likes jitters, that likes to spook the people or the money that keeps them going.”
The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., issued a warning to all Americans Tuesday about the threat of terrorist attack there as the summer approaches.
The Embassy does not mention a specific threat but says the warning is a reminder about the "general security situation in the Middle East."
“[The] potential exists for terrorists to plan and carry out violent actions in the region, including the U.A.E,” added the U.S. alert.
The U.S. warning followed by a day a similar warning to British nationals by the U.K. Foreign Office that called the risk of terror “high” this summer. “High" is the most serious of four terrorism risk levels which the Foreign Office uses in its warnings.
"There is a high threat from terrorism," the official travel advice notice said. "We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the U.A.E."
The BBC first reported the U.K. notice.
NBC News terrorism analyst Roger Cressey said the warnings are the real deal. "The threat is indeed real,” Cressey said. “It was described to me as the kind of the threat that leads off the daily threat briefings from the intelligence community. The threat info is not US-derived, it's all coming from local authorities,” he said. “The sense is [that] Dubai is a likelier target than Abu Dhabi...[with] more big shiny buildings that the ‘infidels’ frequent."
The U.S. counter terrorism official said that he does not have specifics about targets and suggested that U.A.E. officials do not either. The official suggested that some of the intelligence came from U.S. operations, saying, again without further elucidation, “pieces came together.”
The U.S. warning suggested Americans be particularly alert during the July 4 celebrations, although it did not indicate it had any specifics about a potential attack at that time. It says, simply, “Americans should maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times, particularly in public places.”
