WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it had information about possible attacks on ``symbols of American capitalism'' in Italy in the next month.
``U.S. citizens and interests abroad continue to be at increased risk of terrorist actions from extremist groups,'' the State Department said in a public announcement. (Read photo caption below)
``The department has received information that 'symbols of American capitalism' in Italy may be targeted for attack in the next month,'' it said. ``We will provide updated information should it become available.''
The announcement was the first warning about a specific European country since the Sept. 11 attacks.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, in a briefing later with reporters, declined to say which extremist groups were a threat or which American symbols were most at risk.
However, he stressed that people should be careful wherever they went. ``And that's what the travel advisory says, that people should exercise a high level of vigilance and increase their security awareness,'' he said.
The announcement coincided with efforts on Tuesday by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to make amends for asserting last week that Western civilization was superior to Islam.
Berlusconi, who heads a center-right government, said the West ``will continue to conquer peoples, like it conquered communism,'' and was roundly criticized for such inflammatory opinions at such a delicate moment for relations between the West and Muslim world.
Berlusconi said his words had been taken out of context.
PHOTO CAPTION:
Italian officers patrol Piazza della Signoria in downtown Florence, central Italy, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001. The Italian government has stepped up security with greater surveillance and an increased police presence in places which might be targeted for terrorists attack. In the background is the statue of Hercules and Caco by Italian Renaissance sculptor Bartolomeo Ammannati. (AP Photo/Fabrizio Giovannozzi