MANAMA, Dec 23: The United States has warned US citizens in Bahrain about a “terrorist” threat during the Christmas holiday, the US embassy in Bahrain said on Tuesday.

The warning in pro-Western Bahrain, headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, comes amid a heightened state of alert in the United States before Christmas.

“The United States Government has received terrorist threat information specific to Bahrain. This information covers the timeframe of the holiday season, from now through Jan 2, 2004,” the embassy said on its Web site.

“During this time, the US embassy in Manama encourages all American citizens to avoid places where Westerners are known to congregate and to reduce unnecessary travel,” it said, adding the embassy was seeking more information on the threat.

Last month the British embassy in Bahrain warned its citizens there was a high threat of “terrorist” attacks against Western targets.

Bahrain witnessed anti-US protests in the runup to the invasion of Iraq, but there have been few attacks on Westerners in the island state.

The US government raised its terror alert to the second highest level on Sunday and warned Americans there was a high risk of attacks around the holidays in the United States that could be bigger than those of Sept 11, 2001.

Earlier this month the United States offered free flights home to non-essential diplomats and their families in Saudi Arabia because of security concerns. —Reuters