British embassy in Nairobi closed due to threat

The Times of India ^ | December 4 2002 | AFP

[knighthawk]

NAIROBI: The British High Commission (embassy) in Kenya has decided to close until further notice because of a "specific threat" it has received, a spokesman said Wednesday.

"We have received a specific threat against the high commission. In light of that, we've decided to close until further notice," Mark Norton said, adding the mission would be closed on Thursday.

The decision was made at closing time on Wednesday, he added.

"We're investigating the threat as we speak," Norton told AFP, though he added: "It's unlikely we will reverse the decision to stay closed tomorrow."

A Foreign Office spokesman in London said British diplomatic staff would remain in Nairobi for the moment. He confirmed that an investigation was underway into a threat against the High Commission, but declined to elaborate.

The US Public Affairs Office (PAO), located in an office building in downtown Nairobi and not in the walled US embassy compound outside the city, will close Thursday "as a precaution based upon the threat" against the British, an embassy official said.

The PAO deals with the Kenyan and foreign news media.

However, the US embassy is scheduled to be open on Thursday, the official said on condition he not be named.

The US and British missions are normally closed on Saturday and Sunday, while Friday is a public holiday for the Eid al-Fitr holiday ending the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were hit by massive bombs in August 1998 that claimed the lives of 224 people. The attacks were blamed on Osama bin Laden's Islamic militant al-Qaeda network.

[knighthawk]

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