JOHANNESBURG, Sept 8 (Reuters) – The United States warned its citizens on Tuesday of a possible attack by “extremists” against U.S. facilities or interests in South Africa, a rare security alert in a stable democracy seldom associated with Islamist militancy.
In a statement on its website, the U.S. Embassy said it had no information about a specific target or timing, but advised Americans to review their personal security plans and maintain their vigilance.
In Washington, State Department spokesman John Kirby said he could not elaborate on what prompted the move. “The embassy had information indicating a potential terrorist threat and they acted on that,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the police in Gauteng, the province that is home to both the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria and its consulate in Johannesburg, said she was unaware of the U.S. warning.
The embassy and consulates in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town closed for several days in 2009 after what U.S. officials described as a “specific” threat to diplomatic missions in South Africa.
SA Government responds – says nothing to worry aboutÂ
South Africa has assessed information it received regarding a potential extremist threat and concluded there is no immediate danger, government says.
“We’ve done an assessment, we’ve come to a conclusion that there’s no immediate danger” to South Africa, Minister of State Security David Mahlobo said on PowerFM radio on Wednesday.
The U.S. diplomatic mission in Pretoria received information that extremists may be targeting U.S. interests in South Africa, to possibly include U.S. government facilities and other facilities identifiable with U.S. business interests, it said in a security message yesterday. There was no additional information as to timing or potential targeting.
“What we’ll never do is to relax, because the Americans are concerned. We take their concern very seriously,” Mahlobo said. “There’s no need to panic. We are not overly concerned. There’s no immediate threat that we are actually facing,” he said.
