BERLIN (Reuters) - The United States put its forces on alert and governments worldwide held crisis meetings on Tuesday, tightening security at embassies, airports and public buildings, after devastating attacks in New York and Washington.(Read photo caption below)
Planes bound for the United States were recalled in mid-flight, Britain stopped civilian flights over London, and NASA closed the Kennedy Space Center after two hijacked U.S. planes slammed into the World Trade Center and a third destroyed part of the Pentagon.
The Pentagon said U.S. forces throughout the world had been placed on the highest state of alert.
``All military installations around the world are at force protection Delta,'' Admiral Craig Quigley told reporters. The Navy said aircraft carriers had been deployed off the country's east coast.
The United States has 15,000-25,000 military personnel in the Gulf. Its forces there have been the target of bomb attacks in recent years. It has more than 100,000 troops in Europe.
The U.S. embassy in Kuwait warned the 8,000 civilian residents there to ``keep a low profile,'' but said: ``We have no information to indicate a specific threat in Kuwait.''
Seeking to calm markets, the world's central banks said they stood ready to pump cash should the attacks plunge the world into financial chaos.
However, U.S. Federal Reserve President Alan Greenspan and New York Federal Reserve President William McDonough were among hundreds of Americans who found themselves stranded abroad as the U.S. shut down its airspace.
U.S. stock exchanges did not open Tuesday and would remain shut Wednesday, officials said.
European markets and the dollar fell while gold and oil soared as worried investors sought a safe place for their cash.
France called a general security alert, Germany and Britain convened national security council meetings and European Union foreign ministers said they would hold emergency talks on Wednesday.
NATO convened a meeting of its ambassadors to review the situation, warning the perpetrators of the attacks: ``You will not get away with it.''
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who ordered evacuation of the lower part of Manhattan, said thousands may have been killed in the destruction of the World Trade Center's twin towers.
The Frankfurt stock exchange was evacuated after a bomb threat and the regional government recommended the city's skyscrapers close Wednesday, although banks seemed likely to ignore the suggestion.
The European Central Bank, which is based in the city, said it would take a decision Wednesday on whether staff should return to its headquarters.
All European flights to the United States were suspended. Germany's Lufthansa airline recalled or diverted 22 flights. Bermuda was reported to be struggling to cope with the sudden influx of passengers who could not land in the United States.
FRANCE IMPLEMENTS CRISIS PLAN French measures, under a plan code-named Vigipirate, involved deployment of armed troop patrols at airports and metro stations and increased street and border controls.
The American University in Cairo said the Egyptian government was providing extra security.
Foreign embassies in Washington closed or sent U.S. personnel home.
German police with dogs and on horseback stepped up their presence around parliament, where a session debating the 2002 budget was canceled.
The Federal Chancellery put up its automatic security gates. The government said it would step up protection of U.S. and Israeli interests and airports.
Undercover police at the U.S. embassy in Berlin crouched behind cars and pointed pistols at nearby rooftops when Ambassador Daniel Coats entered the embassy.
The new Jewish museum in Berlin canceled its public opening set for Tuesday night.
The U.S. embassy in Rome sent staff home early, while Spain threw cordons around the U.S. and Israeli embassies and the Palestinian representation.
Romanian special forces cordoned off the U.S. embassy in Bucharest, which shut down for two days last week after unspecified threats to security, as well as the Israeli embassy.
'HORRIFYING REMINDER'
In the Kenyan capital Nairobi, scene of a massive bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in 1998, a spokesman for the ambassador said he was awaiting instructions from Washington.
``What I can say is that judging from the reaction of my staff, this is a horrifying reminder of what happened in Nairobi three years ago,'' he said.
Kenyan police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said security forces would tighten security in the wake of the attack.
Greece, criticized by Washington over its anti-terrorism record, ordered a security alert at the U.S. embassy in Athens and other potential U.S. targets, including schools.
A Reuters photographer saw busloads of special police forces taking positions around the central Athens embassy building.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Police officer patrols the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, September 11, 2001. The U.S. put its forces on alert as governments worldwide held crisis meetings, tightening security at embassies, airports and public buildings and braced for more possible attacks. Planes bound for the United States were recalled in mid-flight, Britain stopped civilian flights over London, and NASA closed the Kennedy Space Center after two hijacked U.S. planes slammed into the World Trade Center and a third hit the Pentagon. (Jim Young/Reuters)