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US, UK shut missions in Nigeria
The US and the UK have closed their consulates in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, citing "security fears". A spokesman at the US embassy in the capital, Abuja, said: "The embassy is reacting to a security incident and we thought it prudent to close." The Foreign Office in London said the UK had shut its mission in Lagos as a precaution following the closure of the US consulate, which is just 100m away. The threat was of "mutual concern" to the US and Nigeria, diplomats say. No further details have been released. Nigerian police are investigating the incident and the BBC's Anna Borzello in Lagos says there is a high security presence in the area. Police are stopping passers-by and checking their bags, she said. The AP news agency reports that a Nigerian police bomb disposal squad van was parked outside the US mission. Other consulates on the same road on Victoria Island, Lagos, had also closed, a Foreign Office spokesman said. These include the missions of Germany, Italy and Russia, AP reports.
Additional: The United States, Britain and Germany closed their consulates in Nigeria's largest city Lagos on Friday due to a threat from foreign Islamic militants, U.S. military and diplomatic sources said. Intelligence from foreign Islamic militant channels indicated a specific threat to the U.S. presence in the oil exporting country, diplomatic sources said. "There was some kind of terrorist threat made. It was a terrorist threat that was called in. They knew about it yesterday and decided to close the embassy," said Major Holly Silkman, a spokeswoman for the US European Command, at a military training exercise for West African forces in Senegal. Posted by: Steve 2005-06-17 |
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