Embassies in Morocco remain open amid mass closures

US embassy in Rabat, Morocco Rabat – Redouane Mabchour Western embassies in Morocco have escaped the wave of closures that has affected diplomatic missions across the Middle East following suspicions of an al-Qaeda plot .
Twenty-one US embassies in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia were closed on Sunday as a precautionary measure, with 19 set to remain closed until August 10.
France, Britain and Germany and Holland also said they would shut down their embassies in Yemen on Sunday and Monday.
But diplomatic posts in Morocco remained open on Sunday, with both France and the USA explaining they had no major security concerns for their embassies in the country.
The Moroccan newspaper Akhbar al-Youm reported that Ruth Anne Stevens-Klitz, press officer ?at the American Embassy in Rabat, said US authorities would be keeping the American Embassy and Consulate open.
Asked if any new warnings had been issued to American citizens, she said there were “no specific measures in place other than those usually applied”.
Similarly, French Embassy spokesman Alexandre Ribot said the French authorities hadn’t taken any specific steps to protect the country’s diplomatic and consular missions.
He told Akhbar al Youm that Paris had great trust in the Moroccan authorities to guarantee the ?safety of French interests and French citizens.?
The embassy closures came after US spies found what lawmakers fear is the most serious threat of an Al-Qaeda attack in years.
The US State Department, acting "out of an abundance of caution," said 19 diplomatic outposts would remain shuttered until Saturday.
Britain said its embassy in Yemen would remain closed until the end of the Muslim festival of Eid, the climax of the holy month of Ramadan, "due to continuing security concerns." France also said its mission there would remain shut until Thursday.
Eid is due to end at the weekend.
On Saturday, the global police agency Interpol added to fears by issuing a security alert over hundreds of militants freed in jailbreaks.
The US closure list includes 15 embassies or consulates that were already shut on Sunday due to security fears, as well as four additional posts. At least 25 US missions had initially been ordered closed.
US lawmakers on Sunday said the move was prompted by electronic intercepts of high-ranking Al-Qaeda operatives signaling a major attack.
The intercepts were "probably one of the most specific and credible threats I've seen, perhaps, since 9/11," said Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.
An attack appeared to be "imminent," possibly timed to coincide with the last night of Ramadan, McCaul told CBS.
Saxby Chambliss, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there has been "an awful lot of chatter" among terrorists about planning an attack, all "very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11".
The diplomatic posts to be closed through Saturday included those in: Abu Dhabi, Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, Dhahran, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Manama, Muscat, Sanaa, Tripoli, Antananarivo, Bujumbura, Djibouti, Khartoum, Kigali, and Port Louis.
The new closures are located in Madagascar, Burundi, Rwanda and Mauritius. The outposts that are reopening include those in Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Mauritania, Iraq, and Israel.
The office of EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said European missions were liaising closely with their US allies and that "all necessary precautions are being taken."
Security was especially tight in Yemen's capital Sanaa on Sunday where Britain, France and Germany also shut their embassies.
Although Washington has responded to terrorist threats before by closing diplomatic missions, this was believed to be the most widespread closure ever.
"I've spent 21 years in the CIA, and I don't think I've ever seen 22 embassies closed simultaneously. This is very, very unusual," Robert Baer, a former US case officer in the Middle East, told CNN.
Baer said the US action comes amid an Al-Qaeda resurgence, including recent prison breaks in Libya and Iraq in which hundreds of inmates have escaped, and turmoil in Egypt, Mali and elsewhere in the region.
Interpol said it suspected Al-Qaeda was involved in breakouts in nine countries, notably Iraq, Libya and Pakistan, that had "led to the escape of hundreds of terrorists and other criminals."
The State Department late last week issued a worldwide travel alert to US citizens, warning of the "potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure."
Washington has been especially cautious about security abroad since an attack on its consulate in the Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11 last year.
Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the attack blamed on Islamist militants.
Additional reporting: AFP