Norway closes embassies in Saudi Arabia, Jordan to public

Norway has closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Jordan to the public due to threats of attacks by Al-Qaeda, the foreign ministry said today.
The Scandinavian country has also raised the security level at other diplomatic missions in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as sensitive locations such as Nairobi, the ministry said.
"We have limited public access by closing down, for example, the consular sections (in Riyadh and Amman)," ministry spokesman Frode Andersen told AFP.
"The embassies are not closed down. We keep working, and communicate by telephone and mail."
The United States has closed down 19 diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa until August 10. France, Britain and Germany have also temporarily closed their embassies in Yemen.

This came after the United States issued a worldwide alert late last week warning of plans by Al-Qaeda to launch an attack in the Middle East or Africa in August.