Al Qaeda threat prompts worldwide travel warning

The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert for the month of August, citing a threat of an Al Qaeda attack possibly “emanating from the...

Arabian Peninsula.”

The unusually broad alert Friday was issued one day after news broke that 21 American embassies and consulates throughout the Middle East and North Africa would close as a precaution.

The diplomatic missions from Algeria to Afghanistan will shut their doors Sunday, the first day of the workweek in the region. With the travel alert in effect until Aug. 31, it is not clear how long the U.S. posts will be closed.

Canada has not issued a similar travel warning and a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said there would be a public announcement if the country’s diplomatic missions closed.

Baird said on a conference call with journalists that Canadians should “exercise a higher degree of caution” when travelling in the region.

“We monitor events closely and take appropriate security measures,” Baird’s spokesperson Rick Roth wrote in an email to the Star. “We won’t comment publicly on security precaution specifics at our missions.”

What makes the U.S. warning unusual is its scope, both in terms of when an attack may take place and where — although the alert notes a particular risk for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests,” the bulletin said. “U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Terrorists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime services.”But the mention of the “Arabian Peninsula” and past warnings that Al Qaeda’s Yemen-based affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, poses the greatest threat to U.S. interests turned the focus to Yemen on Friday.

Earlier this week the U.S. carried out three drone strikes in Yemen, despite recent controversy about the Obama administration’s aggressive drone program.

On Thursday, Yemeni President Abdo Rabby Mansour Hadi visited the White House. “I thank President Hadi and his government for the strong co-operation that they’ve offered when it comes to counterterrorism,” U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement following the meeting.

“Initially, the timing seemed a bit strange as the strikes came in the days ahead of President Hadi’s visit,” said Gregory Johnsen, author of The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda and America’s War in Arabia.

“But today’s travel warning put those strikes in a slightly different context and strongly suggests that they are somehow related to the threat,” he said Friday.

Britain will also close its embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, Sunday and Monday, according to Reuters.

“We are particularly concerned about the security situation in the final days of Ramadan and into Eid,” the Foreign Office said in a statement, referring to the Muslim holy month that ends on Wednesday evening.

Security sources who spoke to the Star and various U.S. media outlets also said the risk increases once Ramadan ends.

“This is a higher-than-normal threat stream,” one official told CNN. A senior U.S. official said it was “more than the usual chatter” about potential attacks.

Source:http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/08/02/al_qaeda_threat_prompts_worldwide_travel_warning.html