A U.S. intelligence report issued eight days before the deadly bombing at the Khobar Towers military housing area in Saudi Arabia cited a pattern of suspicious activity there that "warrants improved security efforts."

But Kenneth Bacon, chief spokesman for Defense Secretary William J. Perry, said Thursday the report referred to security improvements that already were under way at Khobar Towers, not to a need for further steps to safeguard Americans. The June 25 truck bomb killed 19 Americans.Bacon said The Washington Post incorrectly reported Thursday that the June 17 Defense Intelligence Agency report alerted senior Pentagon officials to security flaws at Khobar Towers.

"The report did not warn of security lapses or flaws at Khobar Towers," Bacon said. "In fact, the 2 1/2-page report entitled `Saudi Arabia: Increased Security' describes measures that had recently been taken to improve protection of the residential compound."

Bacon quoted what he said was the opening sentence of the DIA report, which remains classified: "The authorities in the Eastern Province city of al-Khobar are tightening security to deal with the rising number of suspicious incidents affecting U.S. and other coalition personnel in their residential area."

Bacon said the suspicious activities included suspected surveillance of the compound and "possible attempts to penetrate the security fence." Specifically, someone drove a vehicle into the security barrier ringing Khobar on May 20, Bacon said.

Still in question is whether this report, which Bacon said Perry does not recall having seen prior to the bombing, was intended as a warning that more needed to be done to protect against potential acts of terror.

Bacon asserted that the report simply was a compilation of known information, including the suspicious incidents and the security improvements being made by the Saudis. He acknowledged, however, that one section of the report could be interpreted as urging that more be done in response to the perceived threat.

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Referring to Khobar Towers, the report, as quoted by Bacon, said:

"Taken individually, the surveillance activities may be explained as curiosity-seeking or harassment. Organized terrorist groups have not been reported targeting U.S. and other coalition personnel. However, in light of growing anti-U.S. sentiment and the increased frequency of these incidents, a pattern appears to be developing that warrants improved security efforts."

Bacon said the last sentence was meant to support security improvements already under way, rather than to warn that more must be done.

"There was nothing new in the report," Bacon said. "These (suspicious incidents) were all things we knew."

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