The U.S. State Department announced Sunday afternoon that 15 of its embassies throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa would remain closed until Saturday August 10 while also adding four more to the list. The “unprecedented move” came about as U.S. officials revealed that the al Qaeda faction in the Arabian peninsula was in the “final stages of planning an attack against U.S. and Western targets”, according to CNN.
An intercepted message from senior al Qaeda operatives, the details of which have not been disclosed for security reasons, prompted the State Department to close 22 of its embassies on Sunday. The closures came about on the heels of a travel alert implemented on Friday, cautioning United States citizens about the increased risk of terror attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa regions.
The main concern in this preemptive measure seems to be Yemen, located at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula. U.K. officials warned all British citizens to leave the country on Friday and also closed its embassy there. An official from the country asserted, “The threat appears much worse than it has in a long time.”
Besides the intercepted message, officials also cited two other reasons for the increased security measures: the end of Ramadan and recent prison breaks in the region.
Western officials worry that as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan ends this week, there may be an increase in attacks. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is characterized by obligatory fasting from dawn until sunset and is a time of increased religious reflection and devotion. After several explosions in Somali on Sunday, a local told Reuters that extremists “have managed to indoctrinate many fighters to die in the holy month.”
Another factor contributing to the embassy closures is the number of prison breaks linked to al Qaeda that occurred in July, the most notable being the release of approximately 500 prisoners, including some senior al Qaeda members, from Abu Ghraib in Iraq.
The State Department has said that the extended closure was not a result of new intelligence about additional attacks. Rather, as CNN national security analyst Frances Fragos Townsend says, it appears to be a strategic move that will give the U.S. and its Western allies time to identify and eliminate the threat while keeping their citizens safe.
