US embassies in 4 African countries also closed
The US State Department closed its embassies in four sub-Saharan African nations as part of a heightened security alert, days before the 15th anniversary of al-Qaeda's bombings of American diplomatic missions in Kenya and Tanzania.
Those two embassies targeted in the August 7, 1998 attacks were rebuilt as more heavily fortified structures away from populated areas where they would be less vulnerable to attack. Those embassies remain open, but the diplomatic missions in Rwanda and Burundi, which border Tanzania to the west, and the island nations of Madagascar and Mauritius were ordered closed. (AP)
