Security tight as US missions close after threat by al-Qaida
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Security was tight at US missions around the Arab world yesterday as Washington held urgent talks on an al-Qaida threat that prompted it to close two dozen embassies and consulates.
Measures were particularly strict in Yemen’s capital, where Britain, France and Germany also closed their embassies following a US warning which lawmakers in Washington said involved al-Qaida’s joint Yemeni and Saudi branch.
But the alert spread across most Arab capitals and extended further afield to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Israel, with embassies and other diplomatic missions closed on what was the first day of the working week in many Islamic countries.
In Sanaa, special forces with armored personnel carriers were stationed outside the US embassy and the missions of Britain, France and Germany.
Police and army checkpoints were set up on all the Yemeni capital’s main throughfares.
Residents said they heard the sound of a drone flying over, which could only be American as Washington is the sole power to operate unmanned aircraft in the region.
Washington considers al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to be the jihadist network’s most active and dangerous branch, and has waged an intensifying drone war against the group’s militants in Yemen.
In Jordan, authorities beefed up security around the closed US mission. “Authorities have conducted a sweep for explosives at all US diplomatic locations and beefed up security measures around the US embassy,” a Jordanian security official said.
National Security Adviser Susan Rice chaired White House talks to review Washington’s response to the threat it revealed on Friday of a major attack by al-Qaida this month in the Middle East or North Africa.
President Barack Obama did not attend but was briefed afterwards.
Early last week, “the president instructed his national security team to take all appropriate steps to protect the American people in light of a potential threat occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula,” a White House statement said.
Although the United States has responded to terrorist threats before by closing diplomatic missions, this was believed to be the most widespread closure so far, covering at least 25 embassies and consulates across the Muslim world and nearby nations.
“I’ve spent 21 years in the CIA, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen 22 embassies closed simultaneously. This is very, very unusual,” Robert Baer, a former US case officer in the Middle East, told CNN.
Baer said the US action comes amid a resurgence of al-Qaida, including recent prison breaks in Libya and Iraq in which hundreds of inmates have escaped, and turmoil in Egypt, Mali and elsewhere in the region.
“Just in general, they need to put themselves back on the map and make a big splash at this point,” he said of al-Qaida.
Interpol noted that this week marks the 15th anniversary of al-Qaida’s bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed more than 200 people and wounded thousands.
The State Department issued a worldwide travel alert to US citizens, warning of the “potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure.”
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