US warning causes embassy closures in Muslim World

BEIJING - Western countries planned to close dozens of embassies in Muslim countries temporarily upon Washington's worldwide travel alert on Friday and the subsequent Interpol global security alert Saturday.

US embassies across the Islamic world will be shuttered Sunday, while Britain, France and Germany will close their offices in Yemen for at least two days, and Canada is to shut its mission in Bangladesh Sunday.

The warning from the global police agency was prompted because Interpol believed the jailbreaks across nine countries, including Iraq, Lybia and Pakistan, were linked to al-Qaida.

Unnamed US officials said that the Washington alert was issued after they intercepted electronics communications in which senior al-Qaida operatives discussed strikes on US interests in the Muslim world.

"The intent is to attack Western, not just the US interests," said Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Although an exact target was unknown, Dempsey believed that the threats were "more specific than ever."