U.S. Embassy Evacuating Non-Essential Staff over Security Threats
The U.S. embassy in Beirut said Friday that its non-essential staff and family members are being evacuated from Lebanon because of "threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel."
"On September 6 2013, the Department of State drew down non-emergency personnel and family members from Embassy Beirut due to threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel," a statement on the embassy website said.
The Department of State urged U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon “because of current safety and security concerns,” noting that “U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks.”
There were no details on any specific threats to the embassy or information on how many people were affected by the decision.
But deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf later said: "The Department of State has ordered a drawdown of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members in Beirut, Lebanon and approved the drawdown of non-emergency personnel and family members who wish to leave Adana, Turkey."
The decision had been made due to "current tensions in the region, as well as potential threats to U.S. government facilities and personnel," Harf said in a statement.
But she stressed the State Department was acting out of "an abundance of caution to protect our employees and their families, and local employees and visitors to our facilities."
Separately, the State Department said the consulate general in Adana, a major commercial and agricultural hub, "has been authorized to draw down its non-emergency staff and family members because of threats against U.S. government facilities and personnel."
Lebanese authorities said, meanwhile, they had boosted security measures at foreign diplomatic missions ahead of any international military action against Syria.
Harf warned any U.S. citizens who chose to remain in Lebanon or southern Turkey that they "should limit nonessential travel within the country, be aware of their surroundings whether in their residences or moving about, make their own contingency emergency plans."
The U.S. warning would be reviewed, Harf said. "We will continue to assess the situation and to adjust our security posture accordingly."
The move comes as U.S. President Barack Obama presses Congress to authorize military strikes against neighboring Syria in response to an alleged August 21 chemical weapons attack Washington has blamed on the regime.
The potential strikes have raised the prospect of regional repercussions, including by pro-Damascus groups in Lebanon.
The U.S. State Department has already warned U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to Lebanon and recommended those in the country make plans to leave.
The conflict in Syria has increasingly spilled over into Lebanon in the shape of deadly clashes and bombings.
Washington's Beirut embassy was the scene of a deadly suicide bombing in 1983 that killed 63 people mostly embassy staff, CIA agents, soldiers and Marines, in what was then the worst attack ever on a U.S. mission.
Last month, Britain updated its travel warning for Lebanon, urging citizens to avoid all but essential travel because of a "heightened risk of anti-Western sentiment" linked to potential strikes against Syria.
The British Foreign Office said Friday it had not ordered the withdrawal of non-essential staff from the embassy in Beirut.
But it said that all dependents of British diplomatic staff had left after the travel warning was updated on August 30.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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