US in worldwide travel alert after 'al-Qaeda threat'

The US state department has issued a
global travel alert because of an
unspecified al-Qaeda threat.
In a statement, the department said the
potential for an attack was particularly strong
in the Middle East and North Africa.
It comes shortly after the US announced
nearly two dozen embassies and consulates
would be shut on Sunday.
The alert expires on 31 August 2013, the
department said. It recommended US citizens
travelling abroad be vigilant.
"Current information suggests that al-Qaeda
and affiliated organisations continue to plan
terrorist attacks both in the region and
beyond, and that they may focus efforts to
conduct attacks in the period between now
and the end of August," the statement said.
The alert warned of "the potential for
terrorists to attack public transportation
systems and other tourist infrastructure".
Meanwhile, the UK Foreign Office has
confirmed that the British embassy in Yemen
is to be closed on Sunday and Monday as "a
precautionary measure".
'Not chit chat'
US President Barack Obama has ordered that
"all appropriate steps" be taken to protect
Americans in response to a threat of an al-
Qaeda attack, AFP news agency quoted a White
House official as saying.
"The president is being updated on a potential
threat occurring in or emanating from the
Arabian Peninsula," the official added.
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the
House of Representatives, said that
congressional leaders had been briefed about
the alert.
"There is some understanding of the
seriousness of the threat," she told reporters.
Republican lawmaker Jason Chaffetz said he
understood there was "a very real worldwide
threat".
Dutch Ruppersberger, the top Democrat on the
House intelligence committee, said the threat
was not prompted by "the regular chit chat"
gleaned from would-be militants online or
elsewhere.
"The most important thing we have to do is
protect American lives," he told the Associated
Press news agency.
'Abundance of caution'
An unnamed senior US official told NBC the
threat may be related to the Islamic holy
month of Ramadan, which ends next week.
In the Muslim world, Sunday is a work day. In
other parts of the world US diplomatic offices
are shut on Sunday.
"It is possible we may have additional days of
closing as well," a senior state department
official told the BBC on Thursday.
Four Americans died in an attack last year on
the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya
The official said the state department had
"been apprised of information" leading it to
take these "precautionary steps... out of an
abundance of caution".
Last year on 11 September, the US consulate
in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked, leaving four
Americans dead.
Other embassies are routinely targets of
protesters.
The US diplomatic missions to be closed on
Sunday are in Abu Dhabi, United Arab
Emirates; Algiers, Algeria; Amman, Jordan;
Baghdad, Iraq; Cairo, Egypt; Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia; Djibouti, Djibouti; Dhaka, Bangladesh;
Doha, Qatar; Dubai, United Arab Emirates;
Erbil, Iraq; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Kabul,
Afghanistan; Khartoum, Sudan; Kuwait City,
Kuwait; Manama, Bahrain; Muscat, Oman;
Nouakchott, Mauritania; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;
Sanaa, Yemen and Tripoli, Libya.