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US embassy closed after threat

From correspondents in Colombo
August 10, 2004

THE US embassy in Sri Lanka closed today and staff were ordered to leave the compound after a security threat, diplomats said.

An embassy official would not give details but said the sudden closure of the embassy as well as its USAID and USIS operations at a nearby building was prompted by "security reasons."

"The embassy is closed for security and administrative reasons and that is all we can say at the moment," embassy spokesman Chris Long told AFP when contacted on a mobile phone.

He could not say what exactly the threat was or when the embassy planned to reopen for issuing visas and other consular services.

"We are currently evaluating the situation, we can't say when we will reopen," Long said.

Diplomatic sources said two upper floors of the embassy, located within a high-security zone of the capital, were closed initially following receipt of a letter which contained some unidentified "powder".

Fearing an anthrax-type attack, the embassy shut its air conditioning system, switched off fans and ordered staff to leave, the source said.

Most Western diplomatic missions here had stopped accepting mail from unknown sources following last year's anthrax scare.

Last month, a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber detonated explosives strapped to her body at a police station right in front of the US embassy located adjoining the British High Commission (embassy).

Sri Lankan police said they were awaiting details from the US embassy staff before launching their own investigations.