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Picture taken on December 15, 2000, shows the US embassy building in Doha, Qatar/AFP

World

US warns of Mideast Al-Qaeda threat in August

US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said that some embassies or consulates may decide to remain closed after Sunday.

Britain is closing its embassy in Yemen on Sunday and Monday and has withdrawn staff, the Foreign Office said.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the special alert was issued due to information that was “specific, credible and non counterable.”

Under a policy since the 1988 Pan Am flight bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, the United States is obliged to share with its private citizens any safety information provided to US government employees.

The decision to go public and announce a threat comes as the US government faces criticism over surveillance of citizens, which Obama says is necessary for security.

The United States responded furiously on Thursday after Russia gave asylum to Edward Snowden, a former US contractor who revealed details of US snooping.

In Washington, Republicans have also criticized the Obama administration for not doing more to prevent an attack on September 11 last year against the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

The assault blamed on Islamist militants killed four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens.

Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican who has criticized the Obama administration over the Benghazi attack, said he understood there was “a very real worldwide threat.”

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“There are threats that are coming at us on a daily basis but this rises to a new level,” Chaffetz told CNN.

He praised the administration response to the latest threat but called for more counter terrorism programs.

“We have to take this threat very seriously. And it’s not, as the president campaigned on, you know, Al-Qaeda’s on the run and everything’s fine,” Chaffetz said.

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton has accepted responsibility for the Benghazi attack but said that requests for more security were only seen by lower ranking officials.

Under Obama, US forces in 2011 killed Al-Qaeda’s fugitive leader Osama bin Laden in a secret raid on his hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Bin Laden was originally from Saudi Arabia and Al-Qaeda historically focused on the Arabian Peninsula.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the global terror network’s Yemen-based franchise, has launched a series of foiled attacks on the United States in recent years.

Obama on Thursday welcomed Yemen’s President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi to the White House and thanked him for cooperation against Al-Qaeda, including through US drone strikes.

It was unclear if the purported threat was in response to specific events or anniversaries.

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Wednesday marks the 15th anniversary of Al-Qaeda’s coordinated attacks against the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

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