US orders non-essential staff to leave Sudan, Tunisia
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E-mail Xinhua, September 16, 2012
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Hundreds of Tunisian protesters attack the U.S. embassy in Tunisia on September 14, 2012. [Xinhua] |
The U.S. State Department on Saturday ordered non-essential staff to leave Sudan and Tunisia where anti-American protests broke out over a film that insults the Prophet Mohammed.
"Given the security situation in Tunis and Khartoum, the State Department has ordered the departure of all family members and non- emergency personnel from both posts, and issued parallel travel warnings to American citizens," department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
U.S. embassies in Sudan and Tunisia came under attack by protesters in the past two days, as fresh wave of violence sparked by the controversial film have targeted American diplomatic facilities in a growing number of countries.
In Tunis, at least three protesters have died in clashes. And in Sudan's capital of Khartoum, at least three people were also killed as protesters attempted to force their way into the U.S. embassy.
The deadly protests prompted the State Department to warn Americans against traveling to the two countries.
"The airport in Tunis is open and U.S. citizens are encouraged to depart by commercial air," the agency said in a travel warning.
"The Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of traveling to Sudan, urges U.S. citizens to avoid all travel to the Darfur region of Sudan, the Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states, and advises you to consider carefully the risks of travel in other areas of Sudan," the department said in a separate updated travel warning.
"The terrorist threat level throughout Sudan, and particularly in the Darfur region, remains critical," the agency added.
Washington was shocked to learn the deaths of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other envoys on Tuesday night, when hundreds of angry protesters broke into and set ablaze the U.S. consulate building in Benghazi in eastern Libya.
President Barack Obama has ordered boosted security for American diplomatic posts around the world, and sent security forces to both Libya and Yemen.
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