SEATTLE (AP) - Boeing's head of security sent his staff an e-mail this month warning that people had been conducting ``very disturbing surveillance'' of the company's facilities in the Seattle area and elsewhere.

The e-mail, as described in Saturday's editions of The Seattle Times, offered no details beyond that ``apparent Middle Easterners'' were seen conducting the surveillance.

Chief Security Officer Greg Gwash urged his personnel to heighten ``surveillance detection measures ... especially during hours of darkness, to detect any reconnaissance being done in advance of a future attack,'' the Times reported.

Company spokesman Dean Tougas confirmed the existence of the e-mail in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday, but declined to comment further.

Boeing is the nation's largest exporter and second-largest defense contractor.

Charles Mandigo, special agent in charge of the FBI's Seattle office, said the agency is not aware of any specific threats against the aerospace giant.

Gwash's e-mail was sent May 14, two days after three Boeing workers were slightly injured by a series of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia that killed 34 people and wounded hundreds more.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, the FBI has put out several security alerts to U.S. businesses operating both domestically and abroad, warning them to be on the lookout for surveillance of their facilities.

``Almost all of the attacks, including the 9-11 hijackings, were preceded by some sort of pre-event activity, either surveillance or dry-runs,'' he said.

Gwash's e-mail carries a tone of urgency.

``Work to make your site a hard target, not an inviting one!'' he wrote. ``Let's resist complacency and the distraction of day-to-day issues, maintain constant awareness and demonstrate our professionalism to make sure we have a future!''

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05/24/03 21:15