El Salvador asks U.S. help to ward off terrorism

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19336358.htm

SAN SALVADOR, July 19 (Reuters) - El Salvador, worried that having troops in Iraq could make it a target for terror attacks, has asked the United States to help it ward off an attack in the country.

Salvadoran President Tony Saca said on Tuesday he had ordered security to be doubled in ports, customs points and the international airport after the July 7 suicide bomb attacks in London, which killed 55 people and wounded hundreds.

The only Latin American country supporting the U.S.-led war in Iraq with troops, El Salvador has had 380 soldiers there since mid-2003 and was the target of repeated threats last year from militant Islamic groups.

"I have asked the United States for support, given all the intelligence they have," said Saca after meeting Bush in Washington last week.