U.S. embassies in Muslim world also shut down due to al-Qaeda threat
Canada’s high commission office in Bangladesh is closed today as western countries take precautions over concerns of possible al-Qaeda attacks.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s office says the mission in Dhaka is being closed as a security precaution.
It follows U.S. warnings of a threatened al-Qaeda attack and the closure of 21 American embassies and consulates in the Middle East and North Africa this weekend.
U.S. officials said al-Qaeda militants were eyeing western interests, not just American ones.
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France, Britain and Germany all moved to close their missions in Yemen today, a working day in that part of the world.
Canada has no embassy in Yemen.
On Friday, Baird said there were no plans to close any Canadian missions today, but indicated his officials would be monitoring the situation through the weekend.
The decision to close Canada’s diplomatic outpost in Bangladesh was made on Saturday.
The widespread U.S. security alert, set to end on Aug. 31, also included a global travel warning to American citizens.
The U.S. State Department warned of a possible attack occurring or coming from the Arabian Peninsula and cited public transportation and tourist sites among possible targets.
Baird has also warned both diplomats and Canadian travellers to exercise caution.
“As a security precaution, Canada’s mission in Dhaka will be closed today,” Bair’s press secretary Rick Roth told CBC News.
“We take the safety and security of our personnel and our missions overseas very seriously,” he said. “We will continue to monitor events closely and take the appropriate security measures.
“We won’t comment publicly on security precaution specifics at our missions,” Roth added.
Scott Stewart, a former special agent with the U.S. State Department, told CBC News that he wouldn’t suggest that people cancel their vacation plans, but he had a warning for “Westerners already living in these countries.”
“I’d certainly be careful if I were a Canadian or any Westerner living [in the Middle East, North Africa or Afghanistan],” Stewart said in an interview on Friday afternoon. “I would especially stay away from hotels, these big, high-profile hotels that have been hit in the past.”
List of embassies shut
The U.S. embassies that have closed are located in the following cities:
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
- Algiers, Algeria.
- Amman, Jordan.
- Baghdad, Iraq.
- Cairo, Egypt.
- Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
- Djibouti, Djibouti.
- Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- Doha, Qatar.
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- Erbil, Iraq.
- Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
- Kabul, Afghanistan.
- Khartoum, Sudan.
- Kuwait City, Kuwait.
- Manama, Bahrain.
- Muscat, Oman.
- Nouakchott, Mauritania.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
- Sanaa, Yemen.
- Tripoli, Libya.
Source: CBNews
BANGLA REACTION ON CANADA CLOSING ITS EMBASSY IN DHAKA FOLLOWING USA
The U.S. embassies were closed on Sunday in the following Muslim countries: United Arab Emirates./ Algeria./ Jordan./ Iraq./ Egypt./ Saudi Arabia./ Djibouti./ Bangladesh./Qatar./ Afghanistan./ Sudan./ Kuwait./Bahrain./Oman./ Mauritania./Yemen./ Libya.
Bangla ruling party Awami League leader Mr Lenin complained furiously about the USA naming Bangladesh as a MUSLIM STATE. He said, our state is a secular democratic Peoples Republic, not an Islamic Republic. He asked the USA to correct the mistake. Then he said, “Now Australia and U.K. would follow the ritual. It is a game, going on & we are mere spectators & have no say. He also cmmplained Canada not repatriating Bangladeshi citizens living in Canada who were given death sentence by Dhaka’s own INTERNATIONAL war crimes Tribunal”-Dewan Monju Munshi,Dhaka:
Like it or not, Bangladesh is now formally included in the US worldwide agenda for ‘War on Terror’, the main purpose of which was, and still is, to ‘restructure the world (especially the Muslim world)’ in the image of the western world based on Judeo-Christian civilisation and values, and also to make the world ‘safe’ for investment and unlimited profit by multinational companies.
Bangladesh is a victim of terrorism, perpetrated by some so-called ‘Islamists’ as well as by the so-called armed ‘cadres’ patronised by different political parties including the ruling Awami League. The former group has been reared up by foreign countries including the US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, whilst the latter finds shelter within the ruling circles and across the border in India. Both types of terrorists are causing extreme harm to the state and people of Bangladesh, but it is not yet an ‘al-Qaeda’ territory as implied by the US.
It is on record that attempts have been made to portray Bangladesh as a haven for ‘Islamic’ terrorists since 2003 by the reported links of the terrorist outfit JMB with some veterans of Afghan war against Russia. But the questions that have remained unanswered so far are: Who recruited these mercenaries from Bangladesh (and also from other countries) and then transported them to Afghanistan to fight a brutal war against Soviet Russia? Who provided them training in sabotage and warfare, who provided the funds and arms, and who was the main beneficiary?
(Who are now sponsoring and providing arms to the so-called Free Syrian Army, who are in reality foreign mercenaries including al-Qaeda terrorists, to destroy another Muslim country? Is there any doubt about the direct involvement of the US, Israel, Britain, France and their Arabian puppets like Saudi Arabia and Qatar?)
Many analysts have attributed the collapse of.Soviet Union and its disintegration primarily to its total defeat in Afghan war, with unchallenged US strategic hegemony in the world, but what did the Afghan people get? The longest war in modern world (without any immediate end in sight) is still being waged in Afghanistan with unprecedented ruthlessness and barbarity by the so-called promoters of freedom and democracy. The mighty US imperial war machine would be ultimately defeated in that graveyard of all foreign conquerors, but how that would benefit the cause of poor Afghan people?
The people of Bangladesh must think urgently and seriously. They must not be guided by raw emotions but by brain, rationality and logic. If the so-called ‘Islamic terrorism’ raises its head to a significant level, with or without the connivance of foreign powers (US-Israel-India-Saudi Arabia-Pakistan), then this would create an excuse for direct military intervention by the US and/or its local ally India, probably under the cover of the UN.
Inclusion of Bangladesh as a country of potential threat to the US from ‘al-Qaeda’ should not be taken lightly by the government or opposition political parties. It is a very serious development and its true meaning must be understood correctly. The potential foreign intervention on the real or imaginary threat of al-Qaeda presence in Bangladesh can be prevented only by united resistance by all democratic and patriotic forces irrespective of political affiliations. One must guard against the infiltrators and agent provocateurs in different parties and organisations who falsely claim to advance the cause of Islam or secularism, but in fact work to implement the enemy agenda against the state of Bangladesh and her people.