America’s security chiefs have met to review the threat of a terrorist attack that led to the weekend closure of 21 US embassies and consulates in the Muslim world and a global travel warning. US President Barack Obama was briefed following the session, the White House said today. Mr Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice led the meeting and later joined Lisa Monaco, Mr Obama’s assistant for homeland security and counter-terrorism, in briefing the president. “The president has received frequent briefings over the last week on all aspects of the potential threat and our preparedness measures,” a White House statement said. Among those at the meeting which began last night were the secretaries of state, defence and homeland security and the directors of the FBI, CIA and the National Security Agency. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended. In an interview with ABC News on Friday, Gen Dempsey said officials had determined there was “a significant threat stream” and that the threat was more specific than previous ones. The “intent is to attack Western, not just US interests,” he said. The global travel warning was the first such alert since an announcement before the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The warning comes less than a year since the deadly September attack on a US diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and with the Obama administration and Congress determined to prevent any similar breach of an American embassy or consulate. The State Department’s warning urged US travellers to take extra precautions overseas. It cited potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists, and noted that previous attacks have centred on underground and rail networks as well as planes and boats. Travellers were advised to sign up for State Department alerts and register with US consulates in the countries they visit. The statement said that al-Qaida or its allies might target either US government or private American interests. The alert expires on August 31. 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 diplomatic facilities affected stretch from Mauritania in north-west Africa to Afghanistan. US officials pointed specifically to Yemen, the home of al Qaida’s most dangerous affiliate and the network blamed for several notable plots against the United States, from the foiled Christmas Day 2009 effort to bomb an airliner over Detroit to the explosives-laden parcels intercepted the following year aboard cargo flights. “Current information suggests that al Qaida 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,” a department statement said. Yemen’s president, Abdo Rabby Mansour Hadi, met Mr Obama at the White House on Thursday, where both leaders cited strong counter-terrorism co-operation. This past week, Yemen’s military said a US drone strike killed six alleged al-Qaida militants in the group’s southern strongholds. Republican Rep Ed Royce, the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said the embassy threat was linked to al-Qaida and concerned the Middle East and Central Asia. “In this instance, we can take a step to better protect our personnel and, out of an abundance of caution, we should,” he said. He would not say if the National Security Agency’s much-debated surveillance programme helped reveal the threat.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Aug 2013 06:53:10 +0000
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