Terror threat shuts a British mission

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A terrorist threat prompted the US Embassy to cancel an Independence Day reception and the British High Commission to close altogether yesterday, officials said.

Pakistan's government ordered police protection reinforced around the already heavily guarded diplomatic enclave in the capital, and officers were posted on roads to check cars for any hidden bombs or weapons.

The threat comes with tension already high in Pakistan after a series of bombings and foiled attacks.

Terror worries have also prompted the United States to order families of US military and defense personnel to leave the Persian Gulf island nation of Bahrain, the first such mandatory evacuation from the US ally, where the Navy's Fifth Fleet is based.

Some 350 families, about 650 people, will begin leaving Bahrain in the next few days, said Commander James Graybeal, a Fifth Fleet spokesman.

"We are in the process of executing the departure, which will happen in the next few days," he said.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said "full protection" was being given to diplomatic missions in Islamabad.

"Security around these two missions has been beefed up," Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said at a press conference. "There's no cause for worry. All the precautionary steps have been taken." He declined to give details of the nature of the threat.

A US Embassy official said the threat was general and against the entire diplomatic enclave. Only the British Embassy closed its doors.

The American mission was closed yesterday because of the Independence Day holiday.

However, the embassy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a reception for foreign diplomats and Pakistani government officials scheduled for yesterday at the US Embassy's high-security compound was postponed.

Pakistan has been rocked by a series of attacks, including a failed attempt last month to assassinate a general who is a top aide to President Pervez Musharraf. Ten people died in the attack in the southern port city of Karachi, but the aide escaped unharmed.

Karachi has also seen several deadly bombings at Shi'ite Muslim mosques in recent months.

Pakistan has declared a red alert at its airports three times in recent months after receiving intelligence that terrorists might try to hijack a plane. There have been no attempts, however, and no arrests have been made.

The diplomatic community in Islamabad has been on guard since an apparent hoax bomb was found last month under a diplomat's car. The diplomat returned to the car to find a box with protruding wires stuck against one of the wheels. The box turned out to be harmless.

Pakistan is a key US ally in the war on terrorism, and US diplomatic facilities have been targeted in the past, particularly in the volatile southern city of Karachi.