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| Terror Networks |
| Azerbaijan Foils U.S. Embassy Attack by Islamic Group |
| 2007-10-30 |
| Security forces in oil-rich Azerbaijan prevented a planned terrorist attack on the U.S. embassy in the capital Baku by fundamentalist Islamic militants, officials said. An Azerbaijani terrorist group aimed to attack government buildings and the U.S. Embassy in Baku, National Security Ministry spokesman Arif Babayev said in a telephone interview today. Law enforcement officers killed one of suspected militants when he resisted arrest and detained others during an early morning operation outside the capital on Oct. 27, Babayev said. The United States and the U.K. today closed their embassies in Baku in response to ``security concerns.'' The mainly Muslim Caspian Sea nation has sought closer ties with the U.S., helping complete a U.S.-supported oil pipeline from the Caspian to Turkey and sending troops to support military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The militants included an army officer who deserted from his unit a few days ago, taking a store of automatic weapons and grenades with him, the security official said. Authorities are searching for the officer, Babayev added. He provided no further details about the group. U.S. officials in Baku late yesterday sent a statement to Americans living there to be on guard and to bolster their personal security. While there is no information at this time that other American or Western interests in Azerbaijan are being targeted, the U.S. Embassy encourages Americans to maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to bolster their own personal security,'' the message said. In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the embassy had scaled back operations while it works with Azerbaijani authorities on ``threat information'' it received. He gave no specifics of the threat. I think we're in a good posture now,'' McCormack told reporters. I would expect that they will resume normal operations in the days to come.'' U.S. Embassy spokesman Jonathan Henick said by telephone from Baku that only a few of the 400 U.S. and local staff at the embassy were working today. A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said by telephone from London that, owing to ``local security concerns,'' the U.K. closed its embassy in Baku to the public. The spokeswoman declined to be identified in line with Foreign Office rules. |
| Posted by:Free Radical |
| #1 I am surprised that the muzzies haven't targetted the Opera House yet. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2007-10-30 09:13 |