US embassies to reopen in Middle East and Africa after terror threat

Yemeni soldiers inspect a car at a checkpoint on a street in Sana?a leading to the US embassy, which is closed over fears of terrorist attack. Photograph: Hani Mohammed/AP

Eighteen of the 19 US embassies and consulates that were closed in the Middle East and Africa over fears of attack will reopen on Sunday, according to the US state department.

The embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, will remain closed. The consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, which was closed on Thursday because of what officials say was a separate credible threat, is also not scheduled to reopen.

A state department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, did not give a reason for the decision to reopen the 18 missions but cited "ongoing concerns about a threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks emanating from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula", or AQAP, for keeping the embassy in Sana'a closed.

"We will continue to evaluate the threats to Sana'a and Lahore and make subsequent decisions about the reopening of those facilities based on that information," Psaki said.

The 19 missions were closed to the public last Sunday after a message was intercepted about plans for a major terror attack. In Yemen, most US embassy employees were ordered to leave the country on Tuesday because of threats.

The state department issued a travel warning on Thursday night regarding Pakistan, saying the presence of several foreign and indigenous terrorist groups posed a potential danger to US citizens throughout the country. At the same time officials ordered non-essential government personnel to leave the consulate in Lahore.

In an appearance on NBC's The Tonight Show on Tuesday, the president, Barack Obama, said the terror threat was "significant enough that we're taking every precaution".

He added: "Al-Qaida and other extremists have metastasised into regional groups that can pose significant dangers.

"So it's entirely consistent to say that this tightly organised and relatively centralised al-Qaida that attacked us on 9/11 has been broken apart and is very weak and does not have a lot of operational capacity, and to say we still have these regional organisations like AQAP that can pose a threat, that can drive potentially a truck bomb into an embassy wall and can kill some people."

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/10/us-embassies-reopen-terror-al-qaida

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