Threats Empty Malaysia's Petronas Towers : U.S. Facilities in Asia On Alert After Attack 
International Herald Tribune
September 13, 2001
Don Kirk

Shock waves from the terrorist attacks in the United States reverberated through Asia on Wednesday, raising fears that terrorists would strike at huge U.S. military facilities in Japan and South Korea, at U.S. embassies and consulates and at the tall buildings that dominate the skylines of the region's largest cities.

Put on the highest state of alert, termed Threat Condition Delta, all U.S. military personnel were confined to bases and ordered not to travel abroad. Military police backed up by infantry squads checked vehicles as they entered installations in Japan and South Korea.

In Brussels, meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers and North Atlantic Treaty delegates met Wednesday to plan a coordinated response with the United States.

The head of the European Commission pledged to help in the fight "with every means at our disposal."

Ambassadors to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels discussed a document that would pledge the support of alliance members to any U.S. countermeasures once it had identified the culprits in the multiple attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

The document, under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, would pledge the U.S. all necessary military and intelligence support, and make all NATO airspace available to the U.S. military, alliance sources said. The treaty declares that an armed attack by any of the 19 signatories, whether in North America or in Europe, should be considered an attack against all. In Washington, President George W. Bush said the attacks were more than acts of terrorism but "acts of war," a condition that some observers said would automatically engage NATO's support.

As the authorities in many countries tightened security around American facilities, U.S. embassies and consulates were shut or closed early in Australia, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Indonesia. In Taiwan, the visa section of the American Institute, the unofficial U.S. Embassy, was closed.

The American Embassy in Tokyo, which issued a terrorist-attack warning on Friday, was also shut, and the American School in Japan, attended by the children of many U.S. officials and business people, canceled classes.

International schools in Bangkok and Jakarta also canceled classes.

The Philippines president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, placing her armed forces on the highest alert, said U.S. forces could use facilities that once were American bases in what her spokesman called "a worst-case scenario" as long as they confined themselves to noncombat activities.

In Malaysia, bomb threats forced the evacuation of major buildings in the capital of Kuala Lumpur, including the 88-story Petronas Twin Towers, the world's tallest building.

Several thousand workers and shoppers poured out of the twin towers in the morning. Two hours later, as the police declared the building was safe around midday, another threat sent workers out of the 24-story building that provides offices for IBM, Chartered Bank and other companies.

Although the calls may have been simple hoaxes, they aroused fears that extremists might resort to terrorism in response to a crackdown by the government of Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad as he faces increasing opposition to his 20-year rule.

"We were so scared," said Amy Liew, an office worker on the 51st floor of one of the towers, who had just watched images of the U.S. attack on television. "The first thing I thought about was the U.S. incident."

IBM Malaysia's chief executive officer, Voon Seng Chuan, said, "It's business as usual."

This, however, was the third such threat to the building in five years. The chief of the Kuala Lumpur bomb disposal unit said "We do not take any threat lightly."

The chief of staff of the U.S. Army, General Eric Shinseki, was in the Malaysian capital for a meeting with Pacific allies. Malaysian officials said that the general returned to Washington, cutting short the meeting.

In South Korea, policemen guarded American bases and diplomatic facilities, the truce village of Panmunjom, on the border with North Korea 50 kilometers (30 miles ) north of Seoul, was closed to all but official traffic, and restaurants, bars and bowling alleys were closed on U.S. bases.

Civilians working on the sprawling U.S. base in Seoul that is headquarters for the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea said they had heard several days ago of a terrorist attack plot.

Major General Jeff Miller, deputy chief of staff of U.S. forces in South Korea, appeared on the armed forces TV network to inform troops and their families of the new state of alert. "U.S. Forces Korea personnel and family members must cease all off-base activities," he said.

"Personnel who planned to travel off the peninsula must remain at their current locations."

At the main gate of the U.S. base in Seoul, as reinforced units of U.S. and South Korean soldiers stood guard, Army Specialist Fourth Class Jeremy Johnson, from Birmingham, Alabama, talked about what the orders meant to him.

"I was supposed to fly out yesterday," he said. "They canceled the flight because of rain. Then they canceled me today because of this."

Copyright © 2006 the International Herald Tribune