mossad flase flag warning, embassies shut down [Archive]

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2nd August 2013, 12:44 PM

CNN) -- A global travel alert issued Friday by the State Department said al Qaeda may launch attacks in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond in coming weeks, and the U.S. government prepared to close embassies and consulates in the region Sunday as a precaution.

The steps showed heightened concerns about what U.S. officials said was intelligence in recent days that indicated a potential attack in Yemen.

According to three sources, the United States has information al Qaeda in Yemen was in the final stages of planning for an unspecified attack.

One of the sources said the preparations appeared to have increased in recent days with the approaching end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while a U.S. official noted it was unclear whether the plot would be directed at a target inside Yemen or elsewhere.

"Current information suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organizations 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 State Department travel alert said.

Demonstrators set the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, on fire on September 11, 2012. The U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. nationals were killed during the attack. The Obama administration initially blamed a mob inflamed by a U.S.-produced movie that mocked Islam and its Prophet Mohammed, but later said the storming of the consulate appears to have been a terrorist attack. View photos of protesters storming the U.S. Embassy buildings.

A desk inside the burnt U.S. Consulate building in Benghazi, Libya, on September 13, two days after the attack.

The damage inside the burnt U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 13.

A lounge chair and umbrella float in the swimming pool of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 13.

Demonstrators on September 12 gather in Libya to condemn the killers and voice support for the victims in the attack on the U.S. Consulate.

U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement about the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Rose Garden at the White House on September 12 in Washington.

A burnt vehicle is seen at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 12.

People inspect the damage at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on September 12.

A small American flag is seen in the rubble at the U.S. Consulate on September 12.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stand at Andrews Air Force Base as the bodies of the four Americans killed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi are returned on September 14.

A man stands in part of the burned-out compound on September 12.

Smoke and fire damage is evident in this consulate building on September 12.

Half-burnt debris and ash cover the floor of one of the consulate buildings on September 12.

The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames on September 11.

A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi burns on September 11.

A vehicle and the surrounding area are engulfed in flames after it was set on fire inside the compound on September 11.

Flames erupt outside of a building in the U.S. consulate compound on September 11.

A vehicle burns during the attack Tuesday on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on September 11.

Onlookers record the damage from the attack on September 11.

Onlookers walk past a burning truck and building in the compound on September 11.

A vehicle sits smoldering in flames on September 11.

People duck flames outside a consulate building on September 11.

Photos: Attack on U.S. Consulate in Libya Photos: Attack on U.S. Consulate in Libya

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Potential terror threat in Mideast

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Central Asia cause of embassy threat

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CNN Explains: The Benghazi attacks
It warned that "terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests," and noted in particular that they may attack public transportation.

While the worldwide alert applied to any U.S. citizens abroad, it specified that the main region of concern was the Middle East and North Africa.

Tracking the threat

U.S. officials who spoke to CNN on condition of not being identified said intelligence agencies have been tracking a growing threat against American and Western targets by al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen for a few weeks.

In recent days, the officials said, further intelligence indicated a potential attack in Yemen and threats against U.S. interests in the Middle East and North Africa, prompting the Obama administration to issue a public warning and plan to close diplomatic facilities in the region Sunday.

Based on the intelligence, officials said, there was particular concern about the U.S. Embassy in Yemen between Saturday and Tuesday, which fall in the final days of Ramadan. In particular, Sunday is Lylet al-Qadr, the Night of Power in Islamic teachings and one of the holiest of the year.

"This is a higher-than-normal threat stream," one official told CNN, and a senior U.S. official said there was "more than the usual chatter" about potential terror threats, which was not specific about time and location.

Embassies and consulates closing

A State Department list made public Friday showed the 21 embassies and consulates that will close Sunday, normally the start of the work week in the countries affected.

They included embassies in Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Yemen and 11 other countries, as well as consulates in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

See the whole list

Other embassies to be closed were in the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Jordan, Djibouti, Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Mauritania and Sudan.

A senior State Department official said the embassies and consulates could be kept closed for additional days. Embassies and consulates in the region are for the most part closed or operate with minimal staff on Fridays and Saturdays.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel also will be closed as normal on Sunday.

President Barack Obama was briefed on the closures, a U.S. official told CNN on condition of not being identified.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters that House leadership also had been briefed on the situation, and that the travel alert and embassy closings provided "some understanding of the seriousness of the threat."

Rep. Ed Royce told CNN's "New Day" on Friday that al Qaeda was linked to a terror threat that prompted the embassy closings.

"It's my understanding that it is al Qaeda-linked, all right, and the threat emanates in the Middle East and in Central Asia," said Royce, a California Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Obama met with Yemeni President Abdo Rabu Mansour Hadi at the White House on Thursday. Yemen has been cracking down on al Qaeda.

Biden briefed legislators

Earlier this week, Vice President Joe Biden and senior State Department officials went to Congress to discuss embassy security after last year's terrorist attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

Biden also briefed congressional leadership, key committee chairs and ranking members about the latest threat concerns, a source who attended the meeting said.

Another official said the recent intelligence might not have warranted such a response before the Benghazi attack, which created a political firestorm for the Obama administration.

On Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said the agency was taking the steps at diplomatic sites out of an abundance of caution.