Australia and Canada close embassies, citing security threat

By Paul Tate

AMMAN — Australia and Canada closed their embassies here indefinitely on Sunday due to an undisclosed security threat, a day after Britain closed its embassy citing similar security concerns.

“Reports suggest terrorists may be in the final stages of planning attacks against Westerners and places frequented by Westerners in Jordan,” said a statement on Sunday posted on the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.

The statement advised its citizens to exercise a “high degree of caution in Jordan because of the high risk of a terrorist attack.”

Both embassies announced that their premises would remain closed until further notice. No one at either embassy was available for comment.

Britain closed its embassy in Amman on Saturday. While giving no specific details on the nature of the threat, a spokesperson from the embassy told The Jordan Times that it would remain closed until further notice “due to a security alert.”

Jordanian Government Spokesman Nasser Judeh in a statement on Sunday to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said the security threat against the embassies was not sufficient to warrant their closure.

Judeh did not comment on the reasons behind the decision to close the embassies but said that the Kingdom's security agencies had made a full assessment of the situation and had informed the three embassies of the threat level.

“In this case the security authorities concluded that the threats did not warrant the closures,” Judeh said.

However, he added that security around the embassies had been reinforced.

“Jordan is committed to use all its available resources to provide full security as required to all diplomatic missions,” Judeh said.

British Ambassador to Jordan Christopher Prentice praised Jordanian security departments on Sunday for ensuring the embassy's safety, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

When asked about the reasons for the embassy closure, Prentice said a threat came via the Internet. He also expressed hope that the embassy would open as soon as possible.

The decision to close the embassies comes amid heightened security measures throughout the country following the November 2005 suicide attacks on three of the capital's hotels, which left 60 people dead and around 100 injured.

Al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian fugitive Abu Mussab Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Shortly after the bombings, the group posted an Internet statement on an Islamist website promising more attacks against places frequented by foreigners, and warning Jordanians to avoid visiting hotels, embassies and tourist sites.

Since the attacks, security has been stepped up at the country's major institutions and leisure facilities, with metal detectors and security guards becoming a regular feature of life in the capital at the entrances to hotels, restaurants and shopping malls.

In August 2005, a Jordanian soldier was killed during a rocket attack on two American warships docked in the southern Port of Aqaba. The incident was also blamed on the group led by Zarqawi.

In 2004, the State Security Court sentenced Zarqawi to death in absentia after convicting him, along with six others, of the murder of USAID officer Laurence Foley, who was gunned down outside his Amman home in October 2002.

Monday,January 9, 2006