Bahrain arrests five in terror plot

MANAMA, Bahrain -- Bahraini authorities have broken up an alleged terrorist ring suspected of planning attacks in this Gulf kingdom, home of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, officials said Saturday.

Five Bahraini men aged 31 to 41 were arrested for plotting terrorist acts against the island's "national interests and endangering the lives of innocent people," the official Bahrain News Agency reported.

Police also seized weapons and ammunition that the detainees were planning to use "for carrying out acts of terrorism targeting the security of the country and the people," the agency reported.

Bahraini officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the arrests -- the first terror-related detentions inside this close U.S. ally since Sept. 11 -- occurred in the past two days.

It was not clear if the men were part of a larger terrorist network.

With anti-American sentiment growing in the Gulf region over a threatened U.S. war on Iraq, military planners are alert to possible attacks like the 2000 suicide bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Last month, U.S. Navy chiefs deployed high-speed Navy patrol cutters to the Gulf to protect U.S. military ships, oil tankers and command vessels.

Bahrain plays host to 4,000 American military personnel and may play a role in any U.S. attack on Iraq.