US orders embassy staff to leave Tunis, Khartoum

Posted by admin American Politics, Headlines Sunday, September 16th, 2012

The United States ordered non-essential staff to leave its embassies in Tunisia and Sudan on Saturday after both diplomatic posts were attacked and Khartoum rejected America’s request to send a platoon of Marines to bolster security at its mission there.
“Given the security situation in Tunis and Khartoum, the U.S. 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,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.
The U.S. embassies in Tunis and Khartoum were attacked on Friday by protesters infuriated by a widely disseminated anti-Islamic film, made in the U.S that insults the Prophet Mohammad and has provoked a violent reaction across the Muslim world.
Four people were killed and 46 injured in the assault on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, according to a hospital official in the city.
In Khartoum, around 5,000 people protesting against the film stormed the German embassy before breaking into the U.S. mission on Friday. They also attacked the British embassy and at least two people were killed in clashes with police, according to state media.
A U.S. official told Reuters on Friday that Washington would send Marines to Sudan to improve security at the embassy, which is located outside Khartoum for security reasons.

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