Guardian Nigeria ‘Survives’ Global Alert On Terror SATURDAY, 03 AUGUST 2013 00:00 FROM MARTINS OLOJA, ORLANDO, FLORIDA NEWS - NATIONAL Flag Nigeria U.S. To Close Embassies In Middle East Sunday THE Federal Government’s effort at warding off activities of terrorists in parts of the country may have paid off, as Nigeria was not among the more than 20 countries that were listed in the worldwide alert issues at the weekend. Al Qaeda re-emerged as a top global security threat when suspected plots by alleged affiliate of the terror group forced the U.S’ State Department to release a worldwide alert for the whole month of August. Reports in the U.S New York Times claimed the United States authorities intercepted electronic communications last week among senior operatives of Al Qaeda, in which the terrorists discussed attacks against American interests in the Middle East and North Africa, American officials said Friday. The intercepts and a subsequent analysis by the U.S national intelligence agencies (NSA) were said to have prompted the United States to issue an unusual global travel alert to American citizens. The alert specifically warned of potential terrorist attacks by operatives of the Al Qaeda and their associates beginning Sunday through the end of August. The bulletin to travellers and expatriates, issued by the State Department, came immediately after the department announced that it was closing nearly two dozen American diplomatic missions in the Middle East and North Africa, including facilities in Egypt, Iraq, Yemen, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. British Government, a top US ally also announced on Friday that it would close its embassy in Yemen on Monday and Tuesday because of “increased security concerns.” It is unusual for the United States to come across discussions among senior Qaeda operatives about operational planning — through informants, intercepted e-mails or eavesdropping on cell phone calls. So when the high-level intercepts were collected and analysed this week, senior officials at the C.I.A., State Department and White House immediately seized on their significance. Members of Congress have been provided classified briefings on the matter, officials told the New York Times. “This was a lot more than the usual chatter,” said one senior American official who had been briefed on the information but would not provide details. Spokesmen for the State Department and the C.I.A. also declined to comment on the intercepts According to reports, senior officials of the U.S government said they were specifically focused on Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula, or AQAP, noting that the affiliate was plotting attacks that authorities in Washington feared could be carried out in the Middle east, Africa or beyond. The Obama government said late last week that it would at last close most of its embassies in the Middle East from today as a result of the threat. Their words last Friday through the State Department. “Current information suggests that Al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terror 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”. However, the alert did not tell travellers to abandon their plans even as it advised caution and recommended UD citizens to register their travel plans on the State Department’s website. An official of the Obama administration told the US media at the weekend that though the Stat department has issued such alerts and warnings in recent past, the threat this time is the most serious the U.S has seen in a few years. The importance of the intercepts was underscored by a speech that the Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahri, posted on jihadist forums on Tuesday last week. In the address Mr. Zawahri called for attacks on American interests in response to its military actions in the Muslim world and American drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors statements by jihadists. Security analysts said on Friday that in the aftermath of the furore over the Obama administration’s handling of the attack last year on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, the State Department is now more likely to publicize threat warnings when deemed credible, both to alert the public and to help deter any imminent attacks. “A decision to close this many embassies and issue a global travel warning for a month suggests the threat is real, advanced and imminent but the intelligence is incomplete on where,” said Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. case officer and a Brookings Institution scholar, told the media at the weekend. The embassy closings come toward the end of the Ramadan holidays and the approaching first anniversary of the terror attack Sept. 11 on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. In the same vein, a British Foreign Office statement last week said, “We are particularly concerned about the security situation in the final days of Ramadan and into Eid,” referring to the Muslim holy month that ends Wednesday on Wednesday evening. Obama administration officials publicly declined to discuss what specific information had prompted the increased alarm and alerts, citing a desire to protect classified sources and methods. But intercepting electronic communications is one the National Security Agency’s main jobs, as the documents leaked by Edward J. Snowden, a former N.S.A. contractor, underscored. At the request of intelligence officials, The New York Times withheld some details about the intercepted communication.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 07:54:51 +0000
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