Terror threat prompts embassy closures
The steps showed the
heightened concerns about what U.S. officials said was intelligence in
recent days that indicated a potential attack emanating from al Qaeda in
Yemen.
Britain's Foreign Office
warned against travel to Yemen and advised British citizens to leave the
country, while a senior Yemeni national security official told CNN that
the government was "on high alert against possible attacks in the days
to come."
"The threat appears much worse than it has in a long time," the Yemeni official said.
According to three
sources, the United States has information that al Qaeda in Yemen was in
the final stages of planning for an unspecified attack.
One of the sources said
the preparations appeared to have increased in recent days with the
approaching end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while a U.S.
official noted it was unclear whether the plot would be directed at a
target inside Yemen or elsewhere.
"Current information
suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan
terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus
efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of
August," the State Department travel alert said.
Photos: Attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites
Photos: Attack on U.S. Consulate in Libya
It warned that
"terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target
both official and private interests," and noted in particular that they
may attack public transportation.
While the worldwide
alert applied to any U.S. citizens abroad, it specified that the main
region of concern was the Middle East and North Africa.
Tracking the threat
U.S. officials who spoke
to CNN on condition of not being identified said intelligence agencies
have been tracking a growing threat against American and Western targets
by al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen for a few weeks.
In recent days, the
officials said, further intelligence indicated a potential attack in
Yemen and threats against U.S. interests in the Middle East and North
Africa, prompting the Obama administration to issue a public warning and
plan to close diplomatic facilities in the region Sunday.
Based on the
intelligence, officials said, there was particular concern about the
U.S. Embassy in Yemen between Saturday and Tuesday, which fall in the
final days of Ramadan. In particular, Sunday is Lylet al-Qadr, the Night
of Power in Islamic teachings and one of the holiest of the year.
"This is a
higher-than-normal threat stream," one official told CNN, and a senior
U.S. official said there was "more than the usual chatter" about
potential terror threats, which was not specific about time and
location.
Embassies and consulates closing
A State Department list
made public Friday showed the 21 embassies and consulates that will
close Sunday, normally the start of the work week in the countries
affected.
They included embassies
in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Yemen and 11 other
countries, as well as consulates in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates.
Other embassies to be
closed were in the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Jordan, Djibouti,
Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Mauritania and Sudan.
A senior State
Department official said the embassies and consulates could be kept
closed for additional days. Embassies and consulates in the region are
for the most part closed or operate with minimal staff on Fridays and
Saturdays.
The U.S. Embassy in Israel also will be closed as normal on Sunday.
President Barack Obama was briefed on the closures, a U.S. official told CNN on condition of not being identified.
House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi told reporters that House leadership also had been briefed
on the situation, and that the travel alert and embassy closings
provided "some understanding of the seriousness of the threat."
Rep. Ed Royce told CNN's "New Day" on Friday that al Qaeda was linked to a terror threat that prompted the embassy closings.
"It's my understanding
that it is al Qaeda-linked, all right, and the threat emanates in the
Middle East and in Central Asia," said Royce, a California Republican
who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Obama met with Yemeni President Abdo Rabu Mansour Hadi at the White House on Thursday. Yemen has been cracking down on al Qaeda.
Biden briefed legislators
Earlier this week, Vice
President Joe Biden and senior State Department officials went to
Congress to discuss embassy security after last year's terrorist attack
on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four
Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.
Biden also briefed
congressional leadership, key committee chairs and ranking members about
the latest threat concerns, a source who attended the meeting said.
Another official said
the recent intelligence might not have warranted such a response before
the Benghazi attack, which created a political firestorm for the Obama
administration.
On Thursday, State
Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the agency was taking the steps
at diplomatic sites out of an abundance of caution.
No comments:
Post a Comment