US to close embassies after threat linked to al-Qaida
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The United States is closing its embassies and consulates throughout the Muslim world tomorrow after receiving an unspecified threat.
The threat was linked to al-Qaida and focused on the Middle East and Central Asia, said Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said yesterday.
US State Department officials said that they were acting out of an “abundance of caution.”
Spokeswoman Marie Harf cited information indicating a threat to US facilities overseas and said some diplomatic facilities may stay closed for more than a day.
Sunday is a workday in the Muslim world.
American diplomatic missions in Europe, Latin America and many other places are closed on Sundays.
Royce said yesterday that he supported the State Department decision to “protect our personnel on the ground.”
The State Department issued a major warning last year informing American diplomatic facilities across the Muslim world about potential violence connected to the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Dozens of American installations were besieged by protests over an anti-Islam video made by an American resident.
In Benghazi, Libya, the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed when militants assaulted a diplomatic post. The US administration no longer says that attack was related to the demonstrations.
The European Union is taking “all necessary precautions” following the US decision, a spokesman said yesterday.
“We are aware of the move by the US and we are in contact with our US counterparts,” European Commission spokesman Alexandre Polack said. “Delegations of the EU in the affected region are liaising with US embassies.”
The EU had no immediate comment on an announcement by the US government that it was issuing a worldwide travel alert, warning US citizens about the “continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.”
At this stage, Polack said, the EU had no evidence of any threats that specifically concerned EU overseas delegations “but we are taking all necessary precautions.” He gave no details.
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