U.S. closes embassy in South Africa after ‘possible threat’

The U.S. Consulate in Johannesburg, South Africa, is among the American facilities closed Tuesday.
The United States temporarily closed its government facilities in South Africa on Tuesday after a “possible threat” to its embassy, the U.S. State Department said.

“As a precaution, we are closing the embassy for one day and notifying the American community in South Africa to remain vigilant,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. “We are also maintaining close contact with South African authorities on this issue.” He had no further details on the “possible threat” to the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria. A note on the embassy’s Web site said all U.S. government facilities in South Africa were temporarily closed following “information recently received” by regional security officials. Kelly said the embassy’s Emergency Action Committee met and is formulating an appropriate course of action.

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