US Embassy Security Closures Are Extended

The US is extending the closure of some of its embassies in the Middle East and Africa through to August 10 over security fears.

The State Department said a small number of additional posts would also be closed, while certain others would reopen on Monday.

The Obama administration announced on Friday that 22 posts would be closed over the weekend.

The State Department also announced a global travel alert, warning that al Qaeda or its allies might target either US government or private American interests.

On the extension, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement: "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."

The Department of State building in New York

It said diplomatic posts in Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antanarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis would be closed from Monday through to Saturday of the coming week.

Those reopening for normal operations on Monday include Dhaka, Algiers, Nouakchott, Kabul, Herat, Mazar el Sharif, Baghdad, Basrah, and Erbil.

The extension came as security forces closed roads, put up extra blast walls and increased patrols on Sunday near some of the 22 diplomatic missions ordered to close.

In recent days, US officials have said they have received significant and detailed intelligence suggesting a possible attack, with some clues pointing to the al Qaeda terror network.

The US embassy compound in Yemen was stormed last year

The State Department said the potential for terrorism was particularly acute in the Middle East and North Africa with a possible attack occurring on or coming from the Arabian Peninsula.

"The threat was specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also that certain dates were given," Representative Pete King, who chairs a House panel on counter-terrorism and intelligence, told ABC on Sunday.

Mr King said he believes al Qaeda "is in many ways stronger than it was before 9/11 because it has mutated and it's spread in dramatically different locations."

The terror network's Yemen branch, known as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, "is the most deadly of all the al-Qaeda affiliates," Mr King said.

In Yemen's capital, Sanaa, security was beefed up on Sunday around the embassy building and the nearby Sheraton Hotel where US marines stay.

In the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, troops set up new blast barriers last week to block several streets leading into the city's already heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the sprawling US embassy and Iraqi government offices.

In the Jordanian capital of Amman, a Jordanian security officer said bomb squads searched the perimeter of the US embassy while additional security vehicles were deployed in the area, including troop carriers with special forces trained in counter-terrorism.

Security also was tightened around the homes of US diplomats in Amman, said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

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