08-04-2013, 04:52 PM
This is a severe move by the State Department, but a good one.
Threats made against Ambassador Stevens in Libya weren't taken seriously enough in the weeks prior to the assassination of him and his colleagues.
IMO.
(CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 4:32 p.m. Sunday]
The U.S. State Department said Sunday that it has extended embassy and consulate closures in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis. The posts are instructed to close for normal operations Monday through Saturday, the State Department said.
"This is not an indication of a new threat stream," the State Department said, "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."
[Original story, posted at 3:09 p.m. Sunday]
(CNN) -- An intercepted message among senior al Qaeda operatives in the last several days raised alarm bells that led to the closing of embassies and consulates Sunday across the Middle East and North Africa, CNN has learned.
CNN has agreed to a request from an Obama administration official not to publish or broadcast additional details because of the sensitivity of the information.
Several U.S. officials also emphasized they have been watching growing threats emerging from Yemen for weeks.
Those threats, combined with the coming end of the month of Ramadan, plus the concern over several major prison breaks in the region, all contributed to the U.S. decision to shut down diplomatic installations.
The shuttering of 22 U.S. embassies and consulates for the day Sunday amid fears of an al Qaeda attack is an unprecedented move.
"We're doing what is necessary to protect our people," Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
The closures stretch across a swath of North Africa and the Middle East, from Mauritania to Oman. Bangladesh and Afghanistan, both majority Muslim nations, also are affected.
The shutdowns could extend beyond Sunday, a senior State Department official said. A U.S. global travel alert is also in place.
More here:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/04/politics/u...?hpt=hp_t1
Threats made against Ambassador Stevens in Libya weren't taken seriously enough in the weeks prior to the assassination of him and his colleagues.
IMO.
(CNN) -- [Breaking news update at 4:32 p.m. Sunday]
The U.S. State Department said Sunday that it has extended embassy and consulate closures in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis. The posts are instructed to close for normal operations Monday through Saturday, the State Department said.
"This is not an indication of a new threat stream," the State Department said, "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."
[Original story, posted at 3:09 p.m. Sunday]
(CNN) -- An intercepted message among senior al Qaeda operatives in the last several days raised alarm bells that led to the closing of embassies and consulates Sunday across the Middle East and North Africa, CNN has learned.
CNN has agreed to a request from an Obama administration official not to publish or broadcast additional details because of the sensitivity of the information.
Several U.S. officials also emphasized they have been watching growing threats emerging from Yemen for weeks.
Those threats, combined with the coming end of the month of Ramadan, plus the concern over several major prison breaks in the region, all contributed to the U.S. decision to shut down diplomatic installations.
The shuttering of 22 U.S. embassies and consulates for the day Sunday amid fears of an al Qaeda attack is an unprecedented move.
"We're doing what is necessary to protect our people," Rep. Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.
The closures stretch across a swath of North Africa and the Middle East, from Mauritania to Oman. Bangladesh and Afghanistan, both majority Muslim nations, also are affected.
The shutdowns could extend beyond Sunday, a senior State Department official said. A U.S. global travel alert is also in place.
More here:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/04/politics/u...?hpt=hp_t1