ROME, Aug 14: Security was boosted - but quietly - in Italian cities, ports, train stations, subways and airports on Saturday, the day before the deadline runs out from a group linked to the Al Qaeda network warning Italy to pull its troops out of Iraq or face attack.

After two threats in two months, one of which forecast a "bloodbath" on the magnitude of Sept 11, 2001, attacks, police commissioner Achille Sera said authorities wanted to be prepared - without giving Italians or the thousands of foreign tourists now in the "Eternal City" the feeling they are inside a war zone.

Police and paramilitary troops stood guard outside the Senate, the elegant Piazza Navonna, the nearby Pantheon, the Piazza Venezia, among other Rome landmarks, as well as outside the residence here of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is away at his holiday home on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

Heightened controls were also in place at the US embassy and the world-famous Coliseum. The daily Corriere della Sera said some 200 ambulances and 300 doctors would be on call - and even traffic police were being mobilized, ready for action.

A statement published in an Arab newspaper on Aug 1 in the name of Abu Hafs al Masri Brigades threatened to strike Italians everywhere unless Rome withdrew its nearly 3,000 troops within 15 days. The same group claimed responsibility for the bloody March 11 attack on a Madrid commuter train that killed 191 people as well as the November bombings against British interests in Istanbul last year in which 25 people died.

Last month, a statement purporting to be by Abu Hafs posted on an Islamist website threatened Italy with a "bloodbath" similar to that of the September 11 attacks on the United States if it kept Berlusconi, a high-profile supporter of the US-led "war on terrorism", in power.

Though heavier than usual, security was far from the vast deployment put in place during recent anti-war demonstrations in Rome and the June visit of US President George W. Bush.

Officials said some 13,000 potential targets were now under permanent guard by 23,000 police or military troops. Rome contains the vast majority of these, 5,000-6,000 sites in all.

The army alone has mobilized 4,000 soldiers to guard 150 sensitive sites around the country, including Rome's Fiumicino airport and the Vatican Radio buildings.

Hordes of Italians were expected to be on the move taking advantage of this last big summer holiday weekend, which coincides with the August 15 Feast of the Assumption, a holy day in this predominantly Roman Catholic country.

Pope John Paul II, one of the Iraq conflict's most trenchant critics, is away from the Vatican to celebrate the feast at the French pilgrimage site of Lourdes.

As of Friday night, public access to the quays at the port of Civitavecchia, the port closest to Rome, is forbidden between 7:00 pm and 7:00 am to anyone except passengers holding tickets. Security boats run constant patrols offshore.

Italian hospitals have been put on the alert and authorities on Friday sent around directives ordering fire chiefs to beef up their weekend forces in the seven cities seen most at risk: Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Turin and Venice.

Not all looked kindly on the official discretion. "Of we're in a state of war, they should tell us," said one firemen's union.

Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu will be making the rounds of security control centres around the capital this weekend and keep in close touch with Berlusconi.

The prime minister has been at his tightly guarded island residence for a week. On Monday, he is to receive British Prime Minister Tony Blair, another key supporter of Washington's hawkish lead in Iraq, for a two-day visit.

"The security measures were put in place to head off any major attack, but there is still the risk of some unpredictable actions by an individual or a small group," said Stefano Dambruoso, an Italian magistrate specialized in the anti-terror fight who a few months ago was named a consultant to the United Nations in Vienna.

Despite official efforts to avoid panic, many Italians still fear an attack.

"If not, they will no longer be credible," Paolo, a restaurant worker in the Piazza Navona said about the threats. -AFP