US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said a threat of possible year-end terror attacks against the US was serious, while other parts of the world were also on alert on Christmas Eve.
Washington told its citizens in Bahrain there was a terror threat in the Gulf Arab state during the Christmas holidays, Turkish police issued a similar alert to companies and banks in Istanbul, and Indonesian police stepped up patrols in Jakarta.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon carried out an exercise to prepare for a terror attack and widened warplane patrols in the US amid fresh concern about threats to nuclear power plants and other vital infrastructure.
Two days after US President George W. Bush's government raised its terror alert to the second-highest level, Rumsfeld underlined the gravity.
"You ask, `Is it serious?' Yes, you bet your life," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon briefing.
One defense official said US authorities believed Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda or other extremists might be planning attacks against key infrastructure sites, such as nuclear power plants, electric power stations, dams and oil industry facilities.
General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Americans could expect to see additional air patrols over various cities and key infrastructure sites, and an increase in air defenses in Washington.
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