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U.S. urges government workers to leave Lebanon and Turkey
by Joseph Earnest September 6, 2013
Newscast Media WASHINGTON—The US State Department said Friday it had ordered the removal of some diplomatic personnel in the Middle East due to security concerns, a move that comes amid media reports that US interests could face attacks from militants as retaliation for American military action in Syria.
A drawdown of "nonemergency" US diplomatic personnel and their families in Beirut, Lebanon, has been ordered, while a similar measure has been approved for diplomats and their relatives who wish to leave the southeastern Turkish city of Adana, where the United States maintains a consulate, the State Department said.
A Friday report in the Wall Street Journal said an Iranian official has told militants in Iraq to strike US interests in Baghdad should the United States carry out military action in Syria as a response to an alleged chemical weapons attack.
The Iranian order came from Qasem Soleimani, head of the Qods Force, a special unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and was intercepted by American intelligence, the Journal cited unnamed US officials as saying.
The United States is watchful of an Iranian fleet of small boats in the Persian Gulf that could threaten US warships there and fears its embassy in Beirut could be targeted by Hezbollah, the newspaper cited the officials as saying.
The State Department said the removal of diplomatic staff from Lebanon and Turkey was due to "current tensions in the region, as well as potential threats to US government facilities and personnel." Add Comments>>
Source: RIA Novosti
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