Bahrain threat
level downgraded

Stars and Stripes

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military decreased the terrorist threat condition for military members serving in Bahrain back to Threatcon Charlie, down from the highest possible level of Threatcon Delta, which was imposed days after the Oct. 12 terrorist attack that killed U.S. sailors in the Middle East, Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said Tuesday.

The condition was changed Saturday. About 1,100 U.S. personnel are in Bahrain.

However, threat condition "Delta" remains in effect for servicemembers in the Yemeni port city of Aden, where the attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole took place, and in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The attack on the Cole killed 17 sailors and wounded 39 others. The blast that crippled the Cole occurred as the ship was refueling in Aden harbor on Oct. 12. Suicide bombers apparently sidled a small, explosives-lined boat up to the Cole and detonated it, ripping a 40-foot-by-40-foot hole in the steel hull. At the time of the attack, the ship’s crew was on a Threatcon Bravo alert, which meant an increased threat of terrorist activity existed.

The destroyer currently is en route to the United States aboard the Norwegian ship Blue Marlin. The ships sailed from waters off Yemen on Sunday, the company in charge of the transport said Tuesday.

The Cole should reach its homeport of Norfolk, Va., by about Dec. 10, said Frederik Steenbuch, manager of Oslo, Norway-based Offshore Heavy Transport.