Bangladeshi policemen stand guard outside the US embassy in Dhaka yesterday. Interpol have issued a global security alert after jailbreaks linked to Al-Qaeda freed hundreds of militants, as the United States and other Western powers planned to temporarily close certain embassies over terror threats.
WASHINGTON: The US yesterday said that 19 of its embassies and consulates in the Mideast and Africa would be closed through August 10 over terror fears.
The list includes 15 that were closed yesterday, as well as four additional posts. Certain other missions were to reopen today, the State Department said.
“This is not an indication of a new threat stream, merely an indication of our commitment to exercise caution and take appropriate steps to protect our employees including local employees and visitors to our facilities,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki in a statement.
At least 25 US embassies and consular offices had initially been ordered closed Sunday in response to a terror threat, a move lawmakers said was prompted by intercepts of high-ranking Al Qaeda operatives signalling a major attack.
In Washington, briefed members of Congress called the intelligence reporting among the most serious they’ve seen in recent years.
Representative Dutch Ruppersberger, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC’s This Week that Al Qaeda’s “operatives are in place.” AFP
