(Adds comment from State Department, more details) By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The United States warned its citizens on Thursday that Kenya and Ethiopia could be targets of suicide attacks by "extremist elements" from Somalia, where Islamists control the capital and other areas. "These threats specifically mention the execution of suicide explosions in prominent landmarks within Kenya and Ethiopia," said a message issued to U.S. citizens by the U.S. Embassies in Ethiopia and Kenya. The embassies said they issued the message in response to reports of "terrorist threats emanating from extremist elements within Somalia which target Kenya, Ethiopia and other surrounding countries." They urged American citizens to be vigilant and use extreme caution when going to prominent public places in Kenya, Ethiopia and neighboring countries. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined to provide specifics about the threat but he said the United States was particularly concerned about "terrorist elements" in Somalia who were linked to groups outside of the country. "When you get specific information that raises concern, as a government we issue these kinds of warnings," said McCormack of the embassy messages. Washington accuses the Islamists, which comprise different factions, of harboring al Qaeda operatives. It has asked the Islamists to hand them over. Asked whether the United States planned to step up security at its diplomatic missions in the region, McCormack said senior staff at the embassies would consider what further protective action, if any, should be taken. Truck bombs exploded at the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug. 7, 1998, killing 224 people, including 12 Americans. All but 10 of the deaths were in Nairobi, where damage was the worst. The latest message was issued amid growing fears of a regional war due to Ethiopia's support of Somalia's weak interim government and Eritrea's apparent backing of the Islamists, who control the capital Mogadishu and are gaining more ground in the lawless Horn of Africa state. McCormack urged all sides in Somalia as well as Ethiopia and Eritrea not to take steps to escalate tensions. "There are concerns that the situation, the current situation in Somalia, might lend itself to wider violence in the region. And we're doing everything we can to see that that does not happen," McCormack said. Talks planned this week between the Islamists and Somalia's transitional government have been stalled, partly because of demands by the Islamists that discussions could only resume once Ethiopia pulled out of Somalia. "We believe the most hopeful course forward begins with transitional federal institutions and the Islamic courts coming together," said McCormack.
