DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Coalition naval forces in the Persian Gulf are on watch for possible terror threats to oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Western naval officials said Friday.
A British navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press, said a threat from al-Qaida last month to target gulf oil terminals had resulted in stepped-up security and vigilance at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal, as well as a refinery in Bahrain.
Oil exports in the region were proceeding as normal, he said.
The British navy, part of the Italian-led Coalition Task Force 152 that patrols international waters off the Ras Tanura terminal, sent an e-mail warning on Friday asking merchant shippers in the region of Bahrain and eastern Saudi Arabia to be on alert for suspicious vessels or other activity.
Task Force 152 also contains ships from French, U.S., German and other navies. 
The U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, said it was aware of the British warning.
“We support the recommendation that commercial mariners be especially vigilant while transiting the gulf,” Lt. Cmdr. Charles Brown said Friday in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.
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By The Associated Press  
Ships from the United States and five other countries will interdict a British vessel in the Persian Gulf on Monday in a mock interception of dangerous weapons technology, an exercise the U.S. expects nearby Iran to notice.
For the first time, an Arab nation, Bahrain, will participate in an exercise under the three-year-old proliferation security initiative. That U.S. program is aimed at getting countries to cooperate in halting shipments of materials that can be used for advanced weapons.
France, Italy, Britain and Australia also will participate in Monday's exercise, the 25th held under the initiative and the first held in the Persian Gulf. 
The practice interception comes as the United States is seeking support for UN sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program. On Friday, Iran stepped up its uranium enrichment program, according to a semiofficial news agency.
"From Iranian news reports we know the exercise got the attention of Iran," Robert Joseph, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said Friday.
The exercise also comes as the United States is urging northeast Asian countries for strict enforcement of UN sanctions against North Korea, which detonated a nuclear explosion October 9. Those sanctions ...   more »

By The Associated Press and Haaretz Service  
Egypt is planning to deploy 5,000 additional troops along its border with the Gaza Strip in the event of a possible Israel Defense Forces operation against arms smuggling, an Egyptian source said late Saturday.
The additional force of mostly police officers will join the 750 officers and soldiers already deployed along the Philadelphi Route, a strip of land along the Egypt-Gaza border that has been used to smuggle weapons into the Palestinian Authority.
Officials in Jerusalem said early Sunday that Israel had been given no information regarding a planned increased Egyptian military presence at the Gaza border, Israel Radio reported. 
The officials said that Egypt had agreed to deploy 750 troops at the border, and would not deploy as many as 5,000 even if it were to buff up its forces, according to the radio.
The Egyptian source had said that the increased military and police presence was to serve as a precaution against possible IDF bombing of tunnels used for smuggling weapons into Gaza.
"We are monitoring the situation with concern, but we have yet to receive an official warning from Israel regarding an upcoming operation," said an Egyptian officer.
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