US embassy in Vietnam closed to the public
The United States said the consular and public affairs sections of its
embassy in the Vietnamese capital would remain closed until further
notice
for security reasons.
However, the embassy's chancery was reopened after the entire mission in
Hanoi was closed down on Friday afternoon following undisclosed threats
against American interests in the region, an embassy official said.
The US Consulate General in the southern commercial capital of Ho Chi
Minh
City remained open.
Both the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City missions were closed on September
11,
the first anniversary of the terror attacks in New York and Washington,
but
the consulate reopened the following day.
Last week US Attorney General John Ashcroft said al-Qaeda operatives in
Southeast Asia may be planning small strikes against US interests to
"demonstrate their worldwide presence and resolve".
Ashcroft said the increased threat level around the September 11
anniversary
was based on specific information that had been "corroborated by
multiple
intelligence sources".
Agence France Presse - September 17, 2002
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