Why go to Larnaca; for physical security? Larnaca is the same distance from Baghdad as Bahrain!
It must be the terrorist threat then. Hang on a minute, all of the major terrorist incidents, involving wide spread loss of life, have happened thousands of miles from the Gulf where there are more Western interests.
Hmmm what can it be.
I know that during the Falklands a guy got the timing of the year award. Fearful about the chances of nuclear war in Europe he moved to Port Stanley the week before the Argies invaded.
Personally, I wouldn't go near Saudi, Kuwait or Yemen because of the terror threat. Jordan, Syria and Israel are a bit too close for comfort. Bahrain and Doha should be fine; Saddam's missiles even during Gulf War I could only reach Riyadh and Manama when launched from forward locations that will not be available to him this time. Muscat / Dubai I see no major snags; I'd be more worried about going to Ankara, Athens or Istanbul which are about the same distance away.
Seems to me that what BA is doing is a prudent measure but how far do you actually go to avoid a threat. The Middle East always seems to be tarred with the same brush. People didn't stop going to Italy (Europe) in the 90s when the FRY blew apart although they were very much closer to an active engagement zone.
The worry for me as a Westerner wouldn't actually be within the borders of most of the countries around the region but in countries where Osama and his henchmen might try to export the threat.
What a depressing start to the week.
Ghost